Teen Praised for Refusing to Babysit Cousin's Baby While Dad Has 'Day Off'

A 19-year-old woman has been applauded for refusing to cancel a trip away to care for her cousin's baby.

The request comes despite the fact the child's father is available to look after the child but can't because "it's his only day off."

While the role of women in society has shifted significantly in the past century, when it comes to child care, the division of labor remains unequal among mothers and fathers.

According to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey, 74 percent of mothers said they did more to manage their children than their spouse or partner with 55 percent of fathers polled agreeing with this sentiment. That certainly appears to be the case for the parents featured in a viral post shared to Reddit by a user posting as bashfulbloom.

According to the user, who describes herself as a 19-year-old female just about to start university, her cousin is currently in the process of trying to find a job and has been having interviews for a variety of roles.

However, that's created a problem when it comes to caring for her 4-month-old baby boy. As the Reddit user explained, next week she is due to go on a five-day trip to the city where she will soon be starting university to set herself up in her new apartment.

"It's new, and I already called people from the internet provider we'll be using to help set up the router and TV," she said. "I'll be alone for the whole duration of my stay, and the city is 6 hours away so nobody can help me out."

However, her mom recently asked if she could babysit her nephew while she is supposed to be away as her cousin has two job interviews. "I asked the mandatory 'Am I really the only person who can look after him?' and to my shock, no," she wrote.

It turned out not only were her sister and in-laws available but the baby's father was also free. So, perhaps understandably, her answer was a resounding no. "I laughed in her face and told her no way in hell am I doing that," the woman said. "She started screaming at me for being an ungrateful and irresponsible brat."

She said she took particular issue with the fact the baby's dad was available, explaining that she had "better things to do than babysit a 4 month old whose own dad is available to care for him."

Her mother told her that the in-laws are "conservative and think the father shouldn't be bathing a kid or changing his diaper." Though her mom pleaded with her to be "compassionate" over the situation, the woman told her: "I don't care for them enough to do that."

But while her response may have been abrupt, those following along with the thread felt she was right to refuse and felt the boy's dad should step up to the plate.

Brainjacker commented: "So your mom thinks being conservative means a husband and father can f**k right off and a random teenage cousin should cancel plans to watch a kid that isn't theirs? Gross, stand your ground." DrWhoop87 said: "I don't see why men like this even bother having children if they don't want to be a dad. I also don't understand why women are having children with these men."

Wild_Statement_3142, meanwhile, spotted a major flaw in the mom's defense of the baby's father. "Too conservative to watch his own kid for an hour or two, but not so conservative to actually put in the work to support his family financially," they said. "A true traditional conservative man would be out interviewing for a second job."

Nopropulsion said: "That dad sucks. Yeah it is hard, yeah it is exhausting. Your wife needs you to tag in cause she's looking for a job. Suck it up and take care of your kid." Elsewhere, CriticalSimple3132 concluded: "Your cousin has a husband. It's not called babysitting, it's parenting."

Newsweek reached out to u/bashfulbloom for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.