Woman stops accepting invites after family continues to 'dump' kids on her at gatherings

While spending time with babies can be delightful in small doses, being repeatedly forced into babysitting can turn joy into a burden. Reddit user u/TheLegendaryHaggis shared how she finally stood up against her being treated as the default family babysitter. “I never wanted to be a babysitter. But somehow, that's what I always ended up being at every family gathering. It didn't matter if I barely knew the kids or their parents, they would always find a way to dump them on me and disappear,” she shared.

Reflecting on her first babysitting experience, she recalled it happening when she was just 14 years old. “They handed me the baby and said they were going to get some drinks. They didn't ask me if I wanted to hold him, or if I knew how to take care of him. They just assumed I would be happy to do it,” she remarked. However, she was far from happy. “I had never held a baby before and had no idea what to do. He was tiny and fragile and smelled like milk and diapers. He started crying after a few minutes and I panicked,” she said. “They had left me alone with their child, without a word of explanation or apology,” she continued, noting that this continued into her 30s. She had finally had enough of this treatment at family gatherings.

At one of her husband’s family member’s events, she decided to take a stand for herself. “Once again, parents came over to introduce themselves and left their baby with me even though I told them that I was uncomfortable with them doing so,” she said. She then mentioned that she waited for a whole hour with the baby with the parents nowhere around, even though they said they’d be gone for only “a few minutes.”  She then took the baby and looked around for the parents. “I finally spotted them, laughing and chatting with some other relatives with their glasses of wine in hand. They looked relaxed and happy, oblivious to my plight. I marched up to them and thrust the baby into their arms.” she explained.

What followed was an exchange between the parents of the baby and the woman herself. The parents seemed to find no issue in leaving their child with her for so long against her will. However, the woman once again made it clear, “I'm not your babysitter. I'm your sister-in-law. And I came here to enjoy myself, not to look after your kid." Unfortunately, the act continued at the following gatherings. “It became a pattern. They all seemed to think that because I was an only child and because I didn't have kids of my own, I would love to play nanny for them,” the woman revealed. She then made another firm decision and refused to accept invitations. 

“I stopped accepting their invitations. They didn't seem to notice or care either. They never asked me why I stopped coming. They never apologized for what they did. They never tried to make it up to me,” she concluded her post. The post received over 1k upvotes and users applauded her for her decision. u/raj0kayshap said, “This happens to me so many times that I get fed up. My wife thinks it's funny. Nowadays, as soon as I'm at a party, I pick up a beer.” u/kisskissfallinlove said, “I think your family already targeted you as the person that can’t say no, but I’m happy you started to stay your ground.”

Editor's note: This article was originally published on November 8, 2023. It has since been updated.