Man Threatens To Call The Police On His Brother After He Tries To Force Him To Babysit His Daughter
He told his brother he didn't want to watch his niece, but his brother still dropped the little girl off to be babysat.
Evgeny Atamanenko / Brian A Jackson / Shutterstock A man revealed that he was pushed to drastic measures after his younger brother tried to force him to watch his daughter.
Posting to the subreddit "r/AmItheA--hole" (AITA) — a forum where users try to figure out if they were wrong or not in an argument — he shared that he was forced to watch his brother's daughter against his wishes and how he made sure it wouldn't happen again.
He threatened to call the police on his brother after being forced to babysit his daughter.
In his Reddit post, the 29-year-old man explained that his brother, 27, is a single father to his 4-year-old daughter, and usually has to take care of her alone. To try and enjoy a night by himself, he decided to ask his brother if he would be able to watch his niece.
"I refused cause I'm not experienced with kids and frankly, cause I simply don't want to babysit," the man wrote. "My brother kept insisting saying that he's too tight with money to pay for a babysitter, but I kept refusing to do it."
Despite telling his brother that he wasn't comfortable watching his niece, and didn't want to do it, he revealed that his brother chose not to listen.
While at home one night, he heard a knock on his door and when he opened it, his niece was standing outside.
"My brother was nowhere to be found. I let her in my room and then I started calling him multiple times, but he wouldn't pick up any of my calls," he recalled. After 30 minutes of trying to reach his brother, he quickly concocted a plan that would surely make him come and pick his daughter up.
He texted his brother and threatened to call the police and report him for child abandonment if he didn't pick up his daughter within the next 15 minutes. Sure enough, his brother received the message loud and clear and immediately came back to pick up his child.
"He was absolutely furious with me and started berating me literally in front of his daughter, but I eventually made him leave my house with my niece. Afterward, he kept giving me messages about how I failed as both a brother and an uncle."
He rebutted, telling his brother that his own child wasn't his responsibility and that he needed to figure out accommodations if he wanted to have a night out instead of dumping the toddler on him without his consent. "My boyfriend however thinks that I'm acting like an a-hole to him and that we could've taken care of my niece for this night without creating a scene," he concluded.
Most people in the comments agreed that he was not being unreasonable for refusing to watch his niece.
Understandably, this man's brother would need help in taking care of his daughter, especially as a single parent with a fixed income. With a sole income, it can be difficult to meet all the financial needs of taking care of a child, including housing, childcare, education, healthcare, and basic necessities.
In the United States, the average annual national cost of child care for one kid in 2021 was $10,600, or one-tenth of a married couple's median income and more than one-third of a single parent's income. Based on that high cost, it's no wonder many single parents look for help from family and friends.
However, many people in the comments section were quick to side with the Reddit poster, pointing out that he had every right to turn down watching his niece.
"You don't need a reason to not want to watch someone else's child but your brother is out of line," one Reddit user wrote.
"If he can't afford a babysitter for an evening - he shouldn't be dating. If money is THAT tight, I feel like he isn't prioritizing the proper things - like his CHILD."
Another user chimed in that both parties were in the wrong, writing, "Your brother shouldn't have just turned up like that and dumped them on you. That's definitely wrong and petty, no doubt about that."
"But I think [you're in the wrong] for treating your brother like that in the first place. It's your niece dude, it's for one singular night for a few hours, you're a fully grown man and almost 30, not a 15-year-old," they continued.
"It would have meant everything to him and it's simply nothing more than a mild inconvenience to you, It's incredibly selfish of you."
It truly does take a village to raise and take care of a child, and sometimes it's important to choose empathy over anything else. Being a single parent is hard enough as it is, and any support, whether big or small, can make the greatest of differences.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.