Woman Takes Best Friend's Daughter On Annual Duo Vacations, Struggles When Her Best Friend Hints Bringing Her 4 New Stepkids Along

She wonders if there is a way of saying no to her best friend without breaking her heart.

Chelsi

• Published in Interesting
• February 21, 2024

Tough conversations are difficult to navigate, no matter how close you are with the other person. A 25-year-old Redditor is gearing up for such a conversation with her childhood best friend about her four new stepkids.

OP and her best friend have been inseparable since they met in preschool. They talk and meet up regularly despite living six hours apart.

OP has been the most supportive aunt to her best friend's 7-year-old daughter. They are so close that she sometimes introduces OP as her other mom.

OP wanted to be a constant figure in her niece's life. She wanted to be reliable because her best friend did not always make the best relationship decisions.

OP's best friend jumps into relationships head first and insists on having her daughter call them dad. In OP's count, her best friend dragged her daughter into these premature relationships four times now.

Her best friend got pregnant with her latest boyfriend whom she has been with for six months. He has four kids from past relationships, and OP's best friend has already claimed them as her stepkids.

OP isn't supportive of her best friend's relationship but has wisely kept her opinions to herself since the pregnancy. Her best friend has been making heavy-handed hints for OP to foster a bond with her new stepkids.

She wants OP to take the stepkids with her during her annual trip with her 7-year-old daughter. The annual big trip is a tradition OP started with her best friend's daughter when she was three years old.

It was OP's way of letting her niece be a kid because her home life was not always peaceful. It was an important one-on-one tradition that OP cherished. She wants to keep it that way.

She has been dodging and ignoring her best friend's hints, but OP knows it was only a matter of time before her best friend stopped the hints and outright asked her.

OP has no idea how she could tell her best friend that she didn't want to bring her stepkids on the annual trip.

It was a big responsibility, and OP would have to stretch her budget to the limit if she brought all five children with her.

Redditors wanted to make the distinction clear. The boyfriend's kids are not her best friend's stepkids. OP has no relationship to them.

Still, her best friend is related to those kids because they are her cousin's children.

Her best friend's love life is no one's dream scenario.

OP can simply say, "Maybe in a few years when we all know each other better." If the relationship lasts that long, OP can give it a shot.

OP has a lot of options if and when her best friend asks her to take her boyfriend's kids with her.

She shouldn't say anything about her budget. The dynamic duo might give her money to make the trip push through.

Her best friend has a pattern. This relationship will crash and burn long before OP has to worry about budgeting for 5 kids at an arcade.

Her best friend's daughter probably already feels sidelined from all the head-spinning decisions her mom made. The one-on-one annual trip with OP is more important than ever.

Another comment said OP was a great other mom, and they are right! OP is allowing her niece to have some stability by consistently showing up for her.

Preserving their annual trip was also a good choice. OP has no relationship with her best friend's stepkids, and her niece would appreciate OP's efforts to spend quality time with just the two of them.

Chelsi