NEED TO KNOW
- A woman is wondering if she’s wrong for not watching her nephew when her sister was scheduled to have surgery
- In a post on the AITA subreddit, the original poster (OP) explained that her sister, 34, who’s always rude to her, has a 6-year-old son who seems to have a “behavioral issue”
- OP went on to say that she told her sister that she doesn’t want to watch her nephew because she “can’t control him”
A woman is asking if she’s wrong for not watching her nephew when her sister was scheduled to have surgery.
In a post on the AITA subreddit, the original poster (OP) explained that her sister, 34, who’s always rude to her, has a 6-year-old son. The woman, 36, shared that her nephew seems to have a “behavioral issue.”
“He has called me names cause I’m overweight and whenever he’s been at mine he has just made a mess, [and] screamed,” she wrote, adding, “He left the fridge door open and threw food on the floor once. He just seems to have some kind of [behavioral] issue.”
OP went on to say that she told her sister that she doesn’t want to watch her nephew because she “can’t control him.” The woman added that she told her sister that she’s not a parent and doesn’t “know what the right tactics” for dealing with him.
“She was okay with it as she has other friends who can take care of him,” OP explained. “Thing is she is now about to go into hospital for a surgery, which will have her out for a few days and she’s telling me there is nobody who can look after my nephew for that time.”
“Now I don’t know what to do because while of course I would take vacation time for family, but I don’t have much left and to be honest, I don’t want to be spending it dealing with a kid who just won’t give me any respect,” she added.
OP shared with her sister that she wouldn’t be happy watching her nephew and offered to pay for a babysitter for her.
“She just called me a selfish cow,” she said, referring to her sister’s reaction to her efforts. “Others in the family have since texted with various stances, asking me to please reconsider or asking why I am being like this. As if I’m meant to magically figure out how to stop him destroying my house or just put up with it.”
The woman ended her post asking if she is in the wrong for not wanting to watch her nephew even though it would be helpful for her sister during her medical issue.
Many commenters chimed in noting that OP is not in the wrong for refusing to watch her nephew. One person emphasized that OP’s sister isn’t “entitled to your time or sanity.”
“Your nephew likely gets that behavior from somewhere, and that “selfish cow” comment from your sister gives me some suspicions as to the source,” they wrote. “She is in no way entitled to your time or sanity. Especially since you’ll likely have to host the kid and not get any compensation for the damages.”
“Medical issues or no, there has to be a modicum of respect and she isn’t showing it,” they continued. “Don’t sacrifice your scant vacation time putting yourself through hell.”
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Another user echoed the commenter’s sentiments, adding that they are curious if the other family members are offering to help OP’s sister.
“Of course not. The child is out of control,” they wrote, responding to OP’s original question about if she was wrong. “It’s always curious to me how family members get involved when they aren’t the ones being asked to do something.”
“For her to call you a selfish cow is really awful,” they added. “You are a good sister by offering to help financially. But there is a reason she can’t find anyone.”
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