“It Was Just a Question”: Mom Outraged After Babysitter Abruptly Quits Over Routine Request
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Booking a sitter is supposed to simplify childcare, not make it even more confusing.
One mother and her friends had already locked in a babysitter weeks ahead of a music festival weekend, complete with an hour-long phone interview covering everything from parenting styles to expectations.
Things started to go off the rails when the mother sent a simple text the night before, politely asking if the sitter could start two hours earlier the next day to catch an early set.
But when the babysitter massively overreacted and quit the job on the spot, the mother was left totally speechless.
Keep reading for the full story.
AITAH for checking if our weekend babysitter was available at an earlier time?
Us and our friends (two couples) are headed to a music festival in San Francisco this weekend, and each have children (two total).
We booked a sitter for both days a few weeks ago after a brief interview process (more on that below).
For each day, we booked the sitter from 2:30pm to 10:30pm (8 hours) while we head to the shows.
Soon one of the mothers decided to see if the babysitters could come earlier.
Last night at 10PM, I texted the sitter to see if she was available a bit earlier on Sunday at 12pm, since there’s a set we’re hoping to see at 1pm.
I thought I was very polite, saying “all good if you can’t!”
However, the babysitter seemed to take it the wrong way.
This is the response I got back this morning:
“Hi [Name], I received your text late last night. Because we confirmed the 2:30 PM schedule earlier this week, I made other plans around those hours and cannot accommodate an earlier start.
Additionally, receiving major scheduling changes late at night does not work for me professionally. Given the discrepancy in our scheduling expectations, I will have to pass on providing care for this weekend entirely. Best of luck finding coverage.”
This process was pretty difficult, even from the start.
I should also note the interview process for this sitter was a bit intense IMO. We talked on the phone for an hour before meeting, as she wanted to interview about our parenting styles, etc.
AITAH for making this request?
Well, this relationship was over before it even began.
What did Reddit have to say?
Maybe it’s for the best it didn’t work out.
It’s likely this babysitter wouldn’t have worked out anyway.
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It’s possible this mother is withholding some important information.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a friend who is upset they missed out on cheap festival passes due to her pal’s indecision.
Or maybe this was all a massive misunderstanding.
Asking a sitter for a schedule tweak isn’t exactly a controversial move, especially with a built-in “no worries if not” attached to it.
Canceling an entire weekend of childcare over one polite text feels like a wildly disproportionate response, particularly after an interview process that already screened for compatibility this thoroughly.
If a two-hour adjustment request was enough to end things completely, the working relationship was probably more fragile than anyone realized.
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