Pexels/Reddit

Supervising a baby around water requires constant attention, not casual multitasking, and one woman is questioning why she’s being blamed for a damaged phone her sister was responsible for protecting.

The mother wasn’t present when her toddler ended up in the pool with her sibling, who somehow lost track of her own phone long enough for the baby to grab it and toss it in the water.

When the phone turned out to be $800 to replace, her sister expected full reimbursement, despite being the one actively supervising a toddler near water at the time.

The mother offered to split the cost in half instead, a compromise her sister rejected outright, insisting the entire amount should fall on someone who wasn’t even there to prevent the situation in the first place.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for not paying for my sister’s phone after my toddler broke it.

I (27F) have a son (at the time 18 months old).

A few years ago, he was spending the day at my parent’s house and my sister (25F) came over and took him into the pool.

But things didn’t exactly go smoothly.

I wasn’t there, so the specifics of what happened are lost on me, but somehow my son picked up my sister’s phone and threw it in the pool.

She tried to salvage it, but a few major features stopped working, so she asked me to cover the cost of a replacement, which was $800.

The mother has a big problem with this, and for good reason.

I was of the opinion that the replacement wasn’t my responsibility. She was the one supervising the child and was negligent and allowed the incident to happen.

If my kid was older and able to understand he was doing something wrong and did it anyway, then I would 100% pay for it, but this was a baby she was watching.

So she was completely honest with her sister about this.

I explained this to her and offered to cover half of the cost for the sake of not burning bridges with family. She was not happy with the compromise and thought I should have covered the entire thing.

I want to point out also that we both make good money, and the cost wouldn’t be a huge blow to either of us.

This sibling was already kind of on thin ice.

To be honest, I didn’t even want to pay the half, because about 2 months before, I lent her an ~$300 item, and I had to physically go and find myself at our parent’s house weeks after lending it to her, and at that point it was damaged to the point of being barely usable.

When I brought that up with her, she said she had only used it one time and that some of our nieces and nephews must have damaged it while they were visiting the house, and she never offered to replace them.

This latest incident is making her question everything.

I let it go because crap happens, but I’d be lying if the phone thing didn’t rub me wrong after that incident.

AITA for only paying half?

Sounds like her sibling should have been paying closer attention.

What did Reddit have to say?

This commenter agrees it’s a valuable lesson for her sister.

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The damages should be the responsibility of the babysitter, as far as this user is concerned.

This commenter picks up on some major animosity between these siblings.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about a woman who got family pushback after gifting jewelry to her stepdaughter.

Was her sibling even watching her baby at all?

Demanding full payment for a mistake that occurred under her own care shifts responsibility in exactly the wrong direction, since babies that age require constant, active attention near water, not careless distraction.

Offering to split the cost was already generous given the circumstances, and refusing that compromise just doubles down on avoiding accountability for her own lapse in judgement.

A toddler doesn’t manage to grab an adult’s phone and throw it into a pool without a serious lack of supervision.

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Author

Benjamin Cottrell

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.