As a dad of 3 myself, I can say with full responsibility that there are many wonderful things about parenting, but what is not that good about it is the absolute lack of time for things that previously seemed so ordinary to you. Well, for entertainment too...
The user u/SnowNow3724, the author of this story that we are going to tell you today, does not have children of his own, but he does have twin half-siblings on his father’s side. And it’s with babysitting them that our story will begin.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post is a 22 Y.O. college student and his parents got divorced many years ago
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
It happened so that the author's dad was caught cheating, but his mistress left him too after giving birth to twins
Image credits: SnowNo3724
The guy, however, later managed to reconcile with his ex and she even helped him in raising the twins from time to time
Image credits: Edwin Ariel Valladares (not the actual photo)
Image credits: SnowNo3724
Later the author's dad started dating a man and they decided to tie the knot and go on a 3-week honeymoon
Image credits: Galina Yarovaya. (not the actual photo)
Image credits: SnowNo3724
However, neither the guy's ex, nor his eldest son agreed to babysit his kids for so long for free
So now meet the Original Poster (OP), a 22 Y.O. guy, whose parents have been divorced for a long time, although they managed to remain on good terms. The thing is that one day, the OP’s dad got caught cheating with a much younger woman, and when she became pregnant and gave birth to twins, she left the kids with their dad and simply left, appearing only sporadically in their lives.
A lot of time has passed since then, the twins have grown up (they are now 5 Y.O.), and the author’s dad later regained the goodwill of his ex-wife and eldest son. Moreover, sometimes the guy’s ex and son even help him to babysit the kids, and the author claims that the boys are wonderful and he considers them to be his brothers, not half-siblings.
And so, the moment came when the OP’s father somehow met another man and started dating him (the man was always openly bi, according to the OP). After some time, the men decided to tie the knot, and when it was time to go on a 3-week honeymoon, the question arose - who will stay with the twins and take care of them?
The author’s mom politely refused, because it’s one thing to babysit twins for around several hours, and quite another to do the same thing for almost a whole month. For the same reason, our hero refused too when dad approached him with a similar request. No, the guy didn’t mind babysitting - but asked his dad to pay for this time in return.
However, the man was indignant at such words from his son, and stated that he was being overly mercantile, not wanting to provide dad with such an important and necessary service for him. Moreover, the twins usually behave pretty anxiously in the presence of strangers, so hiring a nanny was, alas, not an option. As for the OP, he’s pretty sure that babysitting for so long should be paid for.
Image credits: Pixabay (not the actual photo)
“I can’t say about financial relations between relatives, but it seems to me that such a long separation from the main parental figure for these kids can be quite painful for them,” says Irina Matveeva, a psychologist and certified NLP specialist, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment here. “Moreover, the author clearly states that the boys have certain specific behavior, so 3 weeks could be an overly long term for them.”
“So instead of desperately trying to find a decent babysitter for the kids, I’d honestly talk to the man’s partner about shortening their honeymoon. Perhaps, in this case, the man’s ex and son would be more accommodating about babysitting the kids,” Irina presumes.
As for the commenters on the original post, the vast majority of people are simply sure that both the author and his mom did absolutely the right thing in refusing to stay with the twins for so long. “An afternoon is one thing, three weeks is a whole different ball of wax,” one of the commenters reasonably claimed.
And some people in the comments, albeit not on the main topic of the post, expressed real admiration for the greatness of the spirit of the OP’s mom, who found the strength not only to reconcile with a cheating ex, but also from time to time to help him with his children. “Your mom is a Wonder Woman. She’s got a soul made of gold,” another commenter wrote excitedly.
Well, our relatives often ask for help with babysitting their kids, and there is actually nothing reprehensible in ordinary relative help. But when it turns into real blackmail and manipulation - as it was in this post of ours, about a sister trying to force her 3 kids on her bro - it's a completely different matter, isn't it? So please feel free to express your viewpoints on all this in the comments below.
People in the comments mostly agreed with the author, stating that 3 weeks is too much for him
