A man says he's found himself at odds with his brother and sister-in-law after his name turned out to be their baby son's very first word. According to this baffled uncle, whose name is Ben, he babysits his 15-month-old nephew five days a week and is happy to do so.
He will often take the little boy out to work with him on his dairy farm to pet the animals, which he loves, and although his sister-in-law is a stay-at-home mum, he's never questioned why exactly he's been expected to take on so much of his nephew's childcare.
His sister-in-law has even pressed him to care for the baby at the weekends too, but he's had to put his foot down, much to her annoyance, as this is when he gets 'some nitty gritty work done'.
The child's parents have been trying to get the child to talk, but have made things more difficult by trying to coax him into saying more complicated words, like 'mother' and 'father', rather than the more baby-friendly 'mama' and 'dada'.
Things recently got awkward during a recent Sunday get-together at their parents' house, when the little boy piped up with his very first word: Ben.
Taking to Reddit, where he goes by the username u/MooMOOmoo, Ben wrote: "I was sitting playing blocks with my nephew. He suddenly looks up at me and starts going 'B B B B B BE BE'.
"I thought it was just normal baby talk then he gets more aggressive repeating those letters over and over again then he starts going 'N N N N N', he then shouts 'BEN' and points at me and laughs 'BEN BEN BEN'.
"My brother and sister-in-law start yelling at me, saying I was coaching him and how I was being selfish. They immediately pick him up and my brother yells at me 'you took away his first word that was supposed to be our moment'."
He continued: "They storm off to another room they stay in there for about 10 mins and then come out and leave but as they are leaving the baby looks at me again and shouts in the playful baby voice 'BEN' and points at me again.
"My sister-in-law shouts at her son so her son starts crying then she shouts at him more and starts crying herself and they leave."
His parents think that he should apologise to his sister-in-law for 'ruining what should have been a mother's special moment', and have accused him of teaching his nephew his name.
According to Ben, however, his nephew only ever hears his name when somebody else says it. He's also become uncomfortable with how much his sister-in-law relies upon him for childcare, expecting him to deal with any tantrums or dirty nappies at family events.
One fellow Reddit user commented: "One thing your sister-in-law is absolutely wrong about is who the first word belongs to. It belongs to the child saying it.
"Yes, many parents do happen to be around when it’s said but many aren’t. It’s just the way it is and most parents would cheer on the kid saying it, no matter what."
Another advised: "Babies will say whatever first words they want. Maybe they should spend more time with their kid if they were that worried about it."
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