Mum reveals she made her own family take a ‘test’ before she let them babysit
WHEN you're adjusting to life as a new parent, it's only natural to worry about leaving your little one in someone else's care.
But while most mums take full advantage whenever their family offer to help out, one rather overprotective parent has sparked furious debate online after she revealed she'd been "testing" her relatives before allowing them to babysit.
Posting on Reddit's , the new mum explained how she's recently given birth to a baby girl and been inundated with babysitting offers from her family.
But rather than just allowing them to take her daughter for a couple hours or so, the mum wrote: "I decided on a simple 'test' to see who's ready."
Naturally, the woman didn't tell them about the test beforehand but simply "asked family members to watch her for a bit while [she] did something in another room, like fold laundry or take a quick shower."
And while it certainly sounds like a pretty controlling thing to do, the mum was horrified to find that her "grandma turned off her hearing aid so she wouldn't be bothered by the baby crying".
And it seems she was proven right again when her husband's siblings offered to babysit and didn't even last "two minutes before coming to fetch [the new mum] for help."
The user wrote: "I figured that meant they failed for now and just aren't ready to babysit a newborn yet, but we can try again when the baby is older."
However, the situation only gets more awkward when the woman's sister-in-law demanded to know why she wouldn't let her babysit.
Much to the new mum's horror, her husband then told his sister about the test.
But instead of hitting the roof, the sister claims the couple had "failed THEIR test"by not asking them any questions about their lives since they had their daughter... you okay, hun?
Baffled by her sister-in-law's comments, the new mum added: "I was sure I'd asked them about their flight, their jobs, a wedding they'd attended that we missed because of the baby - all the usual polite talk."
Asking other Reddit users to weigh in on the dilemma, the mum concluded: "Am I the a***** for not trusting family with the new baby or should they cut a new mum some slack?"
Needless to say, the dilemma sparked fierce debate in the comments.
One replied: "You're the a***** for telling them you tested them and they failed. If you do something like that you keep it to yourself."
Although another acknowledged that the "whole idea of testing a family member is just weird", they pointed out: "Some people need more time to learn and get to know kids before babysitting. Trial runs and family trips would be better tests."
A third argued: "You have a NEWBORN and these narcissists are berating you for not being attentive to THEM? Laughable."
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