'My sister refuses to babysit because she hates kids - I think she's selfish'

For any new parent with a supportive family, having people on hand to help look after your child when you need a babysitter is an invaluable asset.

But you shouldn't rely on your family for free childcare, especially when it comes to family members who have explicitly told you they don't want to babysit - as one new dad on Reddit recently discovered.

Sharing his story anonymously, the man said he and his wife welcomed their son into the world 10 months ago, and they were told at the time by his sister that she wasn't interested in babysitting because she isn't fond of children.

But when the time came for the couple to need childcare, the dad contacted his sister anyway - and then called her "selfish" for saying no.

The dad called his sister 'selfish' for refusing to babysit (stock photo) (Getty Images)

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He said in his post : "My wife and I welcomed our first child into the world about 10 months ago. His paternal grandparents (my parents) live several states away, but he has two maternal aunts and uncles (their husbands) by marriage as well as a set of maternal grandparents. He also has my sister as an aunt. My sister is a bit of a rebel who swears she'll never get married or have kids, and who claims to not even like kids.

"When my son was born, though, I remember my sister coming to visit him in the hospital which actually somewhat surprised me, but when she saw her nephew she said 'I don't like kids, but he's so cute that he's an exception. He's officially my favourite kid on the Planet. Don't ever ask me to babysit, though.'

"Well, I never would have dreamed of asking her since he had two willing grandparents as well as two willing aunts. However, recently the perfect storm happened."

The man explained his wife works in a jail and was recently called in last minute to work, leaving them short on childcare at a time when no one else was available to look after their baby.

But instead of contacting a babysitter for the few hours they needed cover for, the man "begged and pleaded" his sister, who refused - resulting in his wife telling her employer she would be unable to come into work and getting a written warning.

He added: "My wife works in a jail and as such is considered an 'essential employee'. In other words; they can order her into work if they're short and she doesn't have a right to refuse, no matter what is happening. It honestly doesn't come up very often at all, but when it does it does.

"Meanwhile, I work as a kitchen manager/head chef at an event hall. I had a huge event that I absolutely couldn't miss on a day last week when it just so happened that my wife got ordered into work.

"Our contingency plan just in case that sort of thing should happen to occur was to have one of her sisters or her parents watch our son. However they just so happened to all be out of town together that day, so I had no choice but to ask my sister to just watch her nephew for a few hours until one or both of us were able to get away from our jobs. But she refused.

"I begged and pleaded with her but she just wouldn't do it, reminding us both that she told us that she said she would never babysit and that our emergency wasn't her problem.

"Finally, my wife ended up having to tell her employer 'Well, I just can't come in. Do what you have to in terms of discipline', which ended with her being receiving a written reprimand."

The man then ended up "going off" on his sister and branded her "selfish" for her actions - but his sister has claimed she doesn't "owe him anything".

"I ended up going off on my sister, telling her that she was selfish and amoral. My sister said 'I don't owe you or your wife anything just because we're related' but I told her that this was a horrible attitude," he said.

Commenters on the Reddit post were largely on the sister's side, with many of them pointing out the new dad was well aware that his sister would refuse before he asked.

One said: "Don’t expect people to do things they literally told you they never wanted to do."

And another added: "She told you clearly. You knew not to ask. Your lack of planning and unwillingness to pay for a sitter is not your sister's problem."

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