Trusting your infant with a babysitter can be difficult the first time. But this mom took things to the extreme when she made her family take a ‘test’ before they could be alone with her baby.
The anonymous mother opened up about the situation on Reddit, but her post has since sparked a huge online debate as commenters are divided about whether she was in the right or not. The post explained that the mom had recently welcomed a baby girl, and while her family has constantly offered to babysit, she wanted to make sure they were ready for the responsibility.
"I decided on a simple 'test' to see who's ready,” she explained. But things got complicated when she admits she didn’t tell her family they’d be taking a test. Rather, she just made it seem like she was asking for household help. “I asked family members to watch her for a bit while [she] did something in another room, like fold laundry or take a quick shower,” she wrote.
Although the mom knows her method is a bit extreme, she says it was worth it. She discovered there is one family member she shouldn’t be leaving the baby with. “[My] grandma turned off her hearing aid so she wouldn't be bothered by the baby crying,” she explained, implying that nana will never be asked to babysit.
She also adds that her husband’s siblings also failed her test. She claims they only lasted “two minutes” before having to grab her for help. "I figured that meant they failed for now and just aren't ready to babysit a newborn yet, but we can try again when the baby is older,” she explained. But things got awkward quickly when her sister-in-law then demanded to know why she couldn’t watch her niece. Her husband then proceeded to reveal she had ‘failed’ his wife’s test, so the new mom had to give an explanation.
In response, however, the sister-in-law said the new parents had also failed her test since they hadn’t asked her any questions about their lives since they had their baby. The Reddit user said this simply couldn’t be true, writing, "I was sure I'd asked them about their flight, their jobs, a wedding they'd attended that we missed because of the baby - all the usual polite talk."
She ended her post by asking the Reddit community if she was in the wrong for subjecting her loved ones to a test, and as can be imagined, the comments were heated.
"You're [a jerk] for telling them you tested them and they failed. If you do something like that you keep it to yourself,” one person wrote. But another said the "whole idea of testing a family member is just weird.” They added, "Some people need more time to learn and get to know kids before babysitting. Trial runs and family trips would be better tests."
What do you think, BabyGaga readers? Did this mom go too far with her babysitting test? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!