Uncle Doesn’t Want To Lose Sleep And Refuses To Babysit Niece And Nephew As Parents Rush To Hospital

"They’re right: you should hope you never need a favour from them in the future."

Chelsi

• Published in Interesting
• September 23, 2023

A 37-year-old has an 8-year-old nephew and a 9-year-old niece he claimed to love greatly. He said he would do anything for them, but when asked to babysit them during a family emergency, he refused.

OP and his wife have no children of their own. Their niece and nephew are great kids whom they've babysat before with no issues.

At 10:40 p.m. that Good Friday, OP got a call from his sister. Her husband's 28-year-old sister was involved in a near-fatal car accident.

She had to be airlifted to a hospital, but they weren't sure if she was going to survive. Family and friends were urged to pay her a visit as soon as possible to say goodbye and show support for the family.

OP's sister asked him if he or his wife could babysit their kids while they traveled across the state to be with her husband's family. OP told his sister that he couldn't.

He was about to start working the overnight shift the following Monday. He wanted to sleep in during Easter weekend to get used to his new schedule.

OP's sister asked if his wife could take the kids instead. OP said that his wife is unavailable as well because she planned on spending her Easter weekend with her family.

OP's sister was desperate. She asked OP if he or his wife could just adjust their schedules or take the kids while she was with her family.

OP snapped. He repeated his first two reasons and explained that "no" was a complete sentence.

His sister was mad and ended the call. They ended up taking their kids with them.

OP got a message from his sister. She called him a heartless a**hole. Her husband was also mad and hoped that OP won't go through the same thing and ask them for help because he would behave the same way he did.

So, you were lying when you said you would do anything for these kids?

Clealy, there is a limit to this vague *anything* because OP didn't even take two seconds to consider taking them in for two days

OP's sister was right. He is an uncaring jerk.

OP's relationship with his sister and her husband will suffer because of this

It's understandable why he needs to adjust to his new working schedule

At the same time, his niece and nephew aren't uncontrollable toddlers. They know when they need to be quiet.

OP also could have at least asked his wife before making a decision for her

Easter is a kid-friendly celebration. In fact, these days, it centers around kids rooting around for painted surprise eggs.

There were so many ways OP could have handled this

He chose the bridge-burning one. His sister and BIL will not forget how OP let them down during a dire time.

I truly hope BIL's sister and her friends survived their accident

OP just taught his sister that she can't rely on him no matter how urgent her situation is. OP's rigidity just cost him his relationship with his sister and her family.

They will not view him the same way ever again. From now on, OP is just the uncle they send greeting cards to when they can be bothered to remember.

Chelsi