I Asked My Best Friend to Babysit My Kids, and This Was the Worst Decision I’ve Made in My Life
Andrea, a 30-year-old woman, has recently faced a situation that made her hair stand on end. The shock that the woman experienced is likely to remain with her for a long time. And the source of these shattering emotions was the person Andrea used to confide in. The woman wrote us a letter where she shared how she once asked her best friend to babysit her kids and how it turned out a nightmarish experience for both the woman and her adorable toddlers.
Andrea and her best friend had always been there for each other.
Our reader, a woman named Andrea, who’s 30 years old, is a mom of 2 toddler girls. She has recently faced an absolutely desperate situation, when she needed a helping hand from her best friend. The woman shared the details of her controversial story. All she wanted is to talk to someone about it and to get some help and advice from our readers.
Andrea opened her letter, saying, “My best friend, Anna, and I have been very close for over 15 years now. It has always been an unwritten rule between us, that if anyone needs help, we’re always there for each other. And we did support one another throughout the toughest times in our lives.
When I fell pregnant with my twins, Anna was there to help me with everything I needed. She supported me and took care of me when I was living through a postpartum depression and a painful divorce afterwards. I always thought I could rely on her, and she always knew I would pay her back with the same care and support in case she needed it.”
Anna was there for Andrea even in the toughest time of her life.
Andrea goes on with her story, saying, “After my painful divorce, my ex-husband literally left me alone with 2 kids, and I barely coped with everything. I never asked for help, but Anna felt that I needed something, and she often offered me support. She had never babysat for me before, but she often told me that if I needed her in this, too, then she would help me without doubt.
The time for me to ask her about it has come recently. I asked Anna to babysit my 2 toddler girls for 2 weeks while I handled some very, very important, major life changes. I did give her several outs to change her mind, and after she doubled down, I even asked her to feel free to use drop-in childcare as she felt necessary. Or she could use her babysitter and I said I would pay everything she felt she needed.”
Andrea added, “Our agreed babysitting time was technically two weeks, but I stayed with my kids at Anna’s place during one first week so they could adjust and so that Anna would have them for just one additional week on her own. During that week, I went through everything with her about my kids. I’m extremely overprotective and careful about my girls, and I explained their routine to Anna several times. Everything seemed just fine.”
Extremely unhealthy things started happening as soon as Andrea left.
Andrea goes on, saying, “I left feeling absolutely confident that I didn’t have to worry about my girls 24/7 while I was busy with my issues. I was totally, terribly wrong!
After 2 days, Anna messaged how she was overwhelmed and the girls were screaming, she described them like they were little terrors. I arranged it with a close family member to get the girls for just a few hours to give Anna some peace of mind. We then texted each other, and she still left me feeling like she had control of everything. Wrong again.”
“3 days in, Anna complained about how much my kids were eating, which caught me by surprise entirely, and we joked about how they could easily gain a few extra pounds. I even sent a couple hundred dollars to cover the girls’ ’newly discovered’ eating habits. 4 days in, my family member had the girls for a few hours, and we messaged, and I made sure the girls were good to go.”
Anna’s behavior got to the craziest point eventually.
Andrea shared, “Later that night, Anna sent me a very long message accusing me of taking advantage of her and saying I’m a neglectful parent. She said that I needed to rearrange my situation out of state to get my kids ’now’.
I was completely shocked and dumbfounded, and I immediately started making calls to another closer family member to get my girls. Once that was set, I didn’t argue at all. I just apologized even though I felt her accusations and insinuations were severely wrong, and I told her her feelings were hers, and I was no one to invalidate them.”
Andrea added, “I just took it and let her know the girls would get picked up immediately the very next day. She kept accusing me of taking advantage of her and basically enjoying kid free time while she was dealing with my girls and had a ’lack of communication’ on my part.
Again, I said I was sorry she felt that way and I wish I could say I was enjoying the free-kid time, but I genuinely had not been and have been trying hard every single day. I trusted her and felt she could handle 1 week. But she let me down so severely that I can’t figure out how to proceed with our relationship. What should I do?”
And here’s yet another story that has a very dramatic turn. A woman was invited to her best friend’s wedding. But what happened during the ceremony made her regret many years of friendship with a person, whom she believed to be her soulmate.
