28 August 2023 , 09:29
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Finding the right babysitter for you and your child isn't always easy - especially when you're in a rush. But one 23-year-old has shared how she walked out on parents in need when they asked her to abide by their "disgusting" toilet rule while looking after their children.
The woman, who gave up babysitting a year ago, said on Reddit: "I used to nanny from college until I got my dream job. I work 65-plus hour weeks so I really look forward to relaxing on the weekends. The family I used to nanny for begged me to watch their kids last weekend so they could go to a last minute birthday party.
"I said no at first because I need my weekends to decompress after a long week but they were in a bind so I agreed." When she arrived at their house, she came to learn they'd welcomed a new baby in to their family since her last visit - now having three children in total.
"While I was nannying both kids were potty trained so I never dealt with diapers with them," she added. "I show up and they start going over the baby’s schedule and they then tell me they use cloth diapers so for poops I have to scrape it off into the toilet. I told them I am not doing that.
"We can either use disposable diapers just for this night or I can set the poopy ones aside and they can clean them when they get home. I said that they should have told me this ahead of time because I would have said no." The parents told her "it's just normal baby care" - and again asked her to respect their rule.
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The woman added: "I said that as some who nannied and babysat for five years this is the first time I’ve been asked to do this, so it is out of the ordinary and it is respectful to be clear about things like that with child care providers. I said I am not handling poop more than I need to. So I can either leave, use disposable diapers, or leave the poop ones for them to clean later.
"We started arguing so I just left and went home and had a relaxing night. My mom said I should have just done it because they were in a bind but I gave them options and they vetoed all of them so I stuck to my boundary." Wanting to know whether she's in the wrong for walking out, she has taken to Reddit to ask users for their thoughts.
In response, one user said: "I cloth diapered my daughter and plan to cloth diaper my second baby. Whenever we left baby with anyone else, I provided disposable diapers. My mom was fine with using the cloth diapers so I always told her if it was a poopy one, to just set it aside and I’d take care of it when we got home. I also use to work in a day care and it was always the parents responsibility to take care of poopy ones for the kiddos that were in cloth diapers."
Another user added: "Cloth diapers are becoming the trend within this last year. All my friends/sister-in-law who have had babies use them. So I get why they didn't tell you. But they also should have accommodated to when you said no as a boundary. I think leaving them off to the side was a fair deal". A third user said: "The entitlement is strong with these ones, especially when they are desperate for babysitting. Boundaries are important, but I would be telling them to lose your number."