There’s a fine line between being reliable and being reckless.

One longtime standby babysitter finds herself caught between helping a friend in a pinch and drawing a very real line when a “quick favor” turns into watching a vomiting child.

Keep reading for the full story.

I cancelled babysitting because the kid was sick

I’m the emergency babysitter for my friend’s rambunctious 8-year-old kid.

She had to go out of town suddenly and gave my information to her husband just in case.

Her husband ends up contacting her and she obliges.

He calls in the afternoon and asks me to babysit that evening, as he wants to go to his work and check on things (he owns a bar).

I agree and cancel the plans I had.

But then, one last minute detail changes everything.

Then, as I’m leaving my house to go over, he calls and tells me the kid is throwing up and asks if I can still come over but just wear a mask.

I panic and say I’ll call him right back.

She soon realizes she really can’t afford to get sick.

My husband reminds me that his parents are coming in the next day, and they are older and really can’t get sick.

Plus, while I’m not immunocompromised (y’all the real heroes), whenever I get sick I get REALLY sick and sometimes even end up in the hospital, when other people who have the same thing are just fine.

But when she tells the father this, he isn’t understanding at all.

So I call him back and explain that my in-laws are coming in tomorrow and I can’t risk their health by exposing them to kid germs.

He is really frustrated and complains about what good I am as an emergency babysitter if I don’t even help when they need me.

She’s now torn between duty and guilt.

I feel really bad, but a vomiting kid feels like an okay line to draw.

AITAH?

Good intentions don’t always come with safe circumstances.

Redditors chime in.

This commenter thinks this babysitter did everything right here.

This husband was being completely disrespectful.

There’s nuance here that needs to be considered.

This commenter knows a parenting fail when they see one.

Being an emergency babysitter shouldn’t mean putting your own health at risk.

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