I Refused to Babysit My Sister’s Kids Mid-Flight, It Got Icy

Having a close family member or a friend with kids often means that you are asked to take care of these kids for a little while. However, some people may not be up for the task. In these situations, things can easily turn ugly. In our case, Reddit users were torn about whether the original poster was right or not.

My sister and I live in the same city, but our parents moved to another country for retirement. They flew us out for their anniversary. Our parents buy all of us tickets on the same flight.

My sister has two kids — a 6-month-old and a 5-year-old. She is currently separated from her husband, so she would have to handle 2 children by herself on a 10-hour flight. Or so I thought.

She calls me up a week before a flight we had together and asks me to babysit her kids mid-flight, and something about taking shifts so we can both sleep. I said ’no’ and that I wasn’t comfortable with that, but she said, “Nephew loves you so much,” so we can work something out on the flight and hangs up.

I was angry. I didn’t sign up for mid-flight babysitting. I asked the airline to upgrade to first class to avoid her. The upgrade cost me $50 out of pocket, the rest covered by my frequent flyer miles, and it was money well spent to be able to sleep.

I get to the airport, check-in, and wait around for my sister to show up. When my sister saw we wouldn’t be sitting together, she flipped. She started to give me a lecture about the importance of family. She still sends me little screenshots of how important family is and how we should care about them.

I mean, the only reason why I upgraded was because she expected me to babysit. And I didn’t give her a heads-up. And for everyone that said I didn’t tell her I didn’t want to do it: I did. I did tell her over that phone call I didn’t want to do it.

She does have a history of dumping her kids with me, and I didn’t want to spend 10 hours on the plane with them, only to spend another week with them in a foreign country — where I did babysit them while she went sightseeing for “me time”.

So, who is in the wrong? Let’s hear what Redditors have to say.

• She made the decision to have the kids. She made the decision to take an international flight with them. Not your problem. © Zombiesquirrel57 / Reddit
• She can ask her family for help with them, but her extended family does not have to say yes. And if they don't want to help, for whatever reason, she can't force them into helping. That is the sort of behavior that breeds resentment and results in extended family members actively avoiding her and her children. © tiptoe_bites / Reddit
• It’s reasonable for a family to ask for help, and it’s also okay to have boundaries. It would have been nice to help your sister, but you were by no means required to. It was also okay for her to feel a bit disappointed with you. © Tiredbydefault / Reddit
• This is one of those cases where, sure, technically you were not required to help. They aren’t your kids after all, right? BUT, this is your sister, and she obviously could have really used your help.
  It sounds like the only reason you didn’t help was because you just didn’t feel like it. That’s pretty lame. It is also lame not to give her any advance warning. © poeadam / Reddit
• Your sister shouldn't have just assumed, but if she's a single mom with a 5-year-old and a 6-month-old who's obviously recently separated from her husband, I can forgive some scatterbrainedness. She definitely needed your help on that flight, and I'm willing to bet you didn't need the full ten hours to sleep. That was pretty low. © SunshinyPineapple / Reddit

Honesty is usually the secret to a successful relationship. However, sometimes you discover something about your partner’s past that changes everything you thought and dreamt about.