'My husband is on parental leave — so why is he planning a week in Europe with his mother?'

A woman with a 5-month-old baby has found herself in a difficult position after her husband, currently on parental leave, began planning a week-long trip to Europe with his mother.

The story surfaced recently on Blind, an anonymous online community for office workers, in a post titled "Is it understandable that my husband is going to Europe with his mother while we have a 5-month-old?"

The author, identified only as A, said her baby was 5 months old and her husband was on parental leave, adding that her mother-in-law had long wanted to visit Europe.

According to A, the family also includes a father-in-law and a younger brother-in-law, yet only her husband and mother-in-law planned to make the trip — a one-week itinerary to Europe.

A said she had no bad relationship with her mother-in-law and understood the desire to show filial support. She also acknowledged that Europe can be physically demanding to navigate alone.

Still, she could not quite make sense of the situation. "My husband is on parental leave right now, and our baby is 5 months old — the age that demands the most hands-on care," she wrote. "I just don't know if it's right for someone who is even using parental leave to go abroad for a whole week."

Her husband, however, reportedly argued that if they did not go now, his mother might be too old to make the trip later, and that a week would pass quickly.

A said that only made things harder to accept. "There's a father-in-law and a younger brother at home — and ultimately it's only the eldest son, who is on parental leave, who ends up going," she wrote.

She added that she felt trapped: opposing the trip risked making her look like someone standing in the way of filial duty, yet agreeing felt deeply unsettling. "Am I being too selfish?" she asked, seeking others' opinions.

Readers offered a range of reactions. "Parental leave is not a vacation," wrote one. Another asked, "What was he doing before marriage — why does he only become a devoted son once he's married?" Others questioned who would look after the baby, why the father-in-law was not going instead, and who would foot the travel bill. One commenter suggested a straightforward solution: "Let him go, then send the wife on the same trip with her own mother."