Water safety is no joke, especially if you have young kids.

Everyone knows this, and an accident is every parent’s worst nightmare, but they do still happen.

OP and her 4yo daughter can’t swim.

On Friday it was my cousins kids birthday and we had the party at a local lake.

My daughter is four and can not swim. I also can’t swim and my husband (who can swim) was not present. I explained water safety to my kid, she had a life jacket on, all that jazz.

When she needed to leave the immediate area around a lake, she asked her cousin to watch her daughter.

I also have a toddler, however, and had to nurse him for a nap. I left my cousin in charge of my daughter while I left to feed my son.

My daughter hadn’t been into the water at all and I thought she was fine. She was not.

She came back to a melee and her daughter being pulled from the lake.

I still don’t really know what happened – one second everything was fine, and the next everyone was screaming.

I got down to the lakes edge just as my brother in law was pulling my daughter from the lake. Her life jacket had been removed.

She coughed up some water and he did some water vomit trick which led to her clearing out.

Her brother–in-law had some not-so-kind words for OP.

After he was sure she was fine he walked her over to me and said, verbatim, “Sh—- parents lead to d–d kids. Get your head out of your butt and teach her how to swim.”

I didn’t really have much of a response, just packed up my kids and drove her to the ER. She’s completely fine, just a little shaken up, and very afraid of water.

While she was in the ER with her kids, her sister and brother-in-law began demanding an apology.

Anyway, my sister text me and told me I ought to thank him for saving her life.

I didn’t respond initially because we were still in the ER, which led to her calling me an ungrateful b—-.

Again, I ignored, because my daughter needed me, but last night everything came to a head.

Things escalated, and now OP isn’t sure what she should do – or what she wants to do.

My BIL dmed me asking if I would have rather she drowned. Following that I have received message after message.

I tried to explain that I’ve been busy but my sister said not to contact them unless its to thank him and apologise.

I will probably thank him just to keep the peace, but I think they’re out of line. There was no need for his comment & their following behaviour.

My husband thinks I should go no contact but he’s never liked them so I’m hesitant to listen. My dad agrees with hub, however.

So, AITA for not thanking him (yet)?

That is, of course, where Reddit comes in!

The top commenter has more questions than answers.

This person thinks OP doesn’t have enough respect for the water.

Way too many people – and families – have horrible stories to tell.

They feel like the bottom line is that no one was being careful enough.

Most people aren’t giving OP a break.

What a scary experience.

It definitely rubs me the wrong way that the BIL is making it all about him.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.