Babysitter Questions If She Did The Right Thing For Calling Police On Mom Who Didn't Return Home On Time

There are some jobs that come with a huge responsibility. Especially when it concerns children. So this babysitter took to Reddit to ask people if she did the right thing by calling the police when the parent failed to return home at the right time. 

The 28-year old shares that the childrens' mother was to come home at 9 pm but she failed to appear even at midnight. She says that the mother staying out later than planned is a regular occurrence. 

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When she informed the police with worry, the officers also couldn't reach the mom and so they dismissed the babysitter and took the children home. 

Now, the babysitter says a Department of Children and Family (DCF) investigation has been launched against the mother.

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Taking to the ‘Am I The A**hole subreddit’, she explained that she babysits at the weekend to make extra cash.

The babysitter admits that she should have “fazed out” this family by now, but it's easy money, and also the kids are cute. Even though everything is ideal but the only con of this job for her is that the mom is “never home on time”.

picture for representation purpose only

Initially, the babysitter shares that the mom won't give her return time to her but since it became difficult for her to manage her own plans she started asking for her return time.  But the mom would “never stick to them”.

Few days back, she agreed to babysit between 6 and 9. As she had plans with friends, she explained to the mom that she needed to get off work on time.

At around 9 the mom was still nowhere in sight. Despite calling and texting, she heard nothing. When the clock struck midnight, she said she felt “p***ed” and “exhausted”, as her plans were ruined.

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She eventually ended up messaging and calling the mom telling her that if she didn't come the next hour she will call the police. She tried calling again 30 minutes later and it went to voicemail, so she texted again. This time, she said she was left unread.

The distraught babysitter says that even if the mom had contacted her she would have stayed. As she doesn’t know any other family members of who the kids’ dad is, she wasn’t able to call them.

Patiently waiting for another 15 minutes, she called the mom again. 

Finally, she decided she had had enough and called the non-emergency police line.

Internet supported the babysitter and labeled her NTA

The police then came to her and she showed them the text messages for the commitment mom made with her over text, including confirmation that she would be home by 9. The police tried contacting her themselves but got no reply.

Redditor says that after police took over, she went home and went to bed. 

She said: “I am awoken at 3 am by a frantic call. It’s her. Where are the kids? Why am I not here? I tell her I followed through on my threat, check the police station. She cursed me out, I hung up and went to bed.

“The next day, she sends me an essay saying the kids’ father was called and there’s a DCF investigation launched against her. She called me every name under the sun but I didn’t think I was wrong until I spoke to a friend with kids. She said I should’ve just waited it out and refuse [sic] to ever sit for her again. She asked if her potentially losing her kids was worth me being petty.”

The majority labeled the OP NTA and assured her that she was not at fault in this situation in fact it was the careless mother who went missing for hours and didn't bother to respond to her.

One commenter wrote: “One thing I’ve learned from True Crime is the wait 24 hours to file a missing person thing is a myth. She wasn’t where she said she’d be when she said and wasn’t responding to any communication. She was in fact a missing person at that point.”

Another Reddit user branded the mother’s behavior “absolutely irresponsible”, adding: “She deserves a DCF investigation if she can’t be bothered to even respond”.

One person wrote: “3 am she notices!?”

Another commenter said that although 30 minutes would be “excusable”, telling a babysitter you will be out for three hours but staying out for nine hours “is not something that happens by accident”.