Man Says His Sister Was Hours Late Picking Up Her Son, Then Got Mad When He Ended Up Leaving Kid with Family Friend
The man's sister "promised" to pick up her son in the morning, but didn't retrieve him until the early evening
Oscar Wong/Getty
Stock image of a parent working from homeA man says his sister is angry with him after he took his nephew to a friend's house when she failed to pick up her son at the agreed upon time.
In a post on Reddit's AmITheA------?, the 36-year-old man explained that he was babysitting his 8-year-old nephew so his sister could attend an event. His sister was expected to pick her son up the next morning, but she didn’t return until the next evening around 5:00 p.m., so he brought his nephew to a family friend’s house until his mother could come and get him.
He explained that he was looking forward to quality time with his nephew, but his sister also knew he had plans the next day.
“Saturday morning rolled around, and by 9 a.m., she hadn’t shown up. I texted her, and she replied that she was ‘on her way,’ so I didn’t worry. We had breakfast, hung out and waited around until about 11 a.m.,” he wrote, adding he texted her again, and she assured him she was leaving to pick her son up.
Two hours later, he said he “started getting anxious because [he] still hadn’t heard anything more.” After calling her and leaving voicemails, his sister still had not gotten back to him with her ETA.
“By 2:30, I was really stressing. I had been planning to leave by then to get to my friend’s party, but she still hadn’t shown up or answered her phone.”
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After none of his calls or texts were returned, he contacted a family friend who also lives in his building. He added that his sister and neighbor know the friend “well" and he “knew [his nephew] would be comfortable and safe.”
“The family friend was happy to help, so I explained the situation and left my nephew with her, giving her my sister’s contact info in case anything came up.”
Then his sister arrived to pick up her son at 5:00 p.m., and accused her brother of “abandoning” his nephew, and told the Reddit poster that he “should have waited.”
“I explained that she’d promised to be back in the morning, then ignored my texts and calls. I also told her I’d left him with someone we all trusted,” he wrote.
“She said I should have sacrificed my plans, even if it meant waiting all day, since family comes first.” He confessed he felt guilty, but he was “frustrated by her lack of communication” and “was hours late to [his] own event.”
The response to the Reddit user's post was largely in favor of the brother, with many saying his sister should be more considerate of other people's time.
One person commented, "Guess who just lost their babysitting privileges?! Your sister! Going forward you are no longer available to babysit for her, no matter what she tells you."
Another added, "You were way more patient than most people would have been. You rearranged your day to accommodate her, but there's a limit! It’s not like you left him with a stranger you found someone he knows and trusts, which was responsible on your part. If she really thinks family comes first, maybe she should have picked up her family on time or at least communicated better."
