A Sassy Rant: AITA for Not Babysitting My Ex’s Children?
Hello, sassy souls and witty wanderers! Gather ’round while your dear friend Roger dives into the rabbit hole that is this Reddit drama. Yes, you heard me right—a juicy AITA (“Am I The Asshole?”) post that left my sassy sensibilities tingling and sent my snark-o-meter off the charts. And honey, let me tell you, there is nothing quite like dissecting a post from a real person with a real problem. So buckle up, because Roger’s got some things to say!
The Backstory: Where It All Began
Our storyteller, let’s call him Mr. Unfortunate Soul (Mr. US for brevity), first entered the Wild West of co-parenting over a decade ago. He shares a 12-year-old son with his ex, who we’ll affectionately call Ms. Prolific Baby-Maker (Ms. PBM). They broke up when their son was a mere three months old. Fast forward a dozen years, and this amicable split has become more complicated than a soap opera plotline.
As if juggling one child wasn’t enough, Ms. PBM decided to collect kids like Thanos collects Infinity Stones. We’re talking five other children by five different men. Now, let’s not judge, but the fact that none of these men are involved is like baking a drama cake and icing it with disaster. And with the cherry on top—she’s pregnant again. I mean, seriously, can someone call Hollywood? This woman needs her own reality show.
The Request: An Absurd Babysitting Gig
Now, Mr. US has been co-parenting quite well until Ms. PBM crossed into Blatant-Overstepping Territory. Yep, our dear Ms. PBM wants Mr. US to babysit her five kids, whom he did not father, while school’s out. Let that sink in, folks. Five kids, ages unknown, ready to unleash chaos upon Mr. US’s presumably peaceful kingdom. And the kicker? She expects him to do it for free. Because, of course, giving birth to these kids means he somehow signed an invisible contract to be their unpaid nanny.
Let’s paint the full picture: Ms. PBM lives three hours away. Three. Friggin’. Hours. Does she believe in teleportation, or does she think gas is free in Fantasyland? Even mighty Mr. US can’t defy the laws of physics or economics. So, let’s break down his reasons for declining:
The Ultimate Guilt Trip: Virtue Signalling 101
When our brave hero said
Original story
I share a 12 year old son with my ex. We broke up amicably when he was 3 months old.
We got along fine just after. We were both young and never really worked together and I have zero animosity toward her for the end of our relationship.
We co-parented our son well over most of the last 12 years but for 3/4 years now we’ve had some issues.
Following our breakup my ex has had five other children by five different men and to the best of my knowledge not one of the men is involved in the life of their child. My ex is raising her other five kids alone without help and as of 2 years ago she lives in a different city and I have custody of our son, with her getting monthly visitation and more time in the summer.
I used to see my ex’s kids occasionally and I’d try to be kind to them. But the more kids she had, the more she would ask for me to “help” with them and I put a boundary down because I did not want to encourage her to keep having more children and to rely on me for financial or childcare assistance.
It started with her wanting money for her kids birthdays or a medical appointment and turned into requests for me to take kids overnight or for me to babysit for her.
She was made homeless two years ago after her former landlord sold the house she was renting and the new owner did not intend to continue renting it out. She left it too late to make other plans and when she was made homeless I was awarded temporary custody of our son, which turned to full custody once she moved to a different city.
Now my ex is asking me to babysit her kids during the day now that school’s out and I told her no. My reasons are as follows: it’s a three hour drive from her to me and I don’t believe she’s going to make that drive to and from here every day to pick up the kids, which means I would end up with her kids overnight.
She also expects this for free which is another reason. And finally, she is pregnant again so doing this now only adds to the concern about her leaning on me to be a father to the kids she had with other men.
When I said no we had a fight over this and she told me to think of it as showing my son how to be a kind and caring person and giving her kids the chance to see him more than they do. She told me I need to man up and help her as the father of her first kid.
And she laid a huge guilt trip on me which I think has made me question my no now.
AITA?