Newborn

Sister-in-Law Forgets Her Newborn Niece in the Park for Several Hours

Warning: The mum rage is strong in this story. But it is warranted? You be the judge.

Okay, so here’s the deal. A new mum desperately needed someone to watch her daughter when she got called into work. So her sister-in-law, who she’s known for several years, offered to step in.

Sure, I’ll babysit, she said. It’ll be a walk in the park.

The sister-in-law decided to take the newborn and her own dog for, you guessed it, a walk in the park.

Spoiler alert: It doesn’t end well.

While there, SIL’s dog ran away and she went to chase after it. She didn’t even catch the darned dog but headed home anyway, completely forgetting she had left the newborn at the park!

“She says they were walking through the park and the leash slipped out of her hand. Without thinking she put my daughter on a nearby bench (she was in a little carrier) and she ran after the dog,” the enraged mother explains in a Reddit post.

YIKES. I mean, forgetting your phone in the park, I get. But an entire human being!!

Wait a minute, where’s the baby?

Now here’s the real kicker. It wasn’t until several hours later that the sister-in-law remembered, Shit, I was watching my newborn niece!

via GIPHY

She raced back to the park to find the newborn was exactly where she left it. Not like a newborn could walk away or anything. But, phew!

However, the sister-in-law did the right thing and told mum what happened when she came to pick up her daughter. Naturally mum was pissed but also incredibly grateful that no one had kidnapped her daughter.

Okay, so definitely a lesson learned.

Never leave a newborn at a park unattended.

However, the family drama continued. You see, the sister-in-law was getting married and the livid mother decided she did not want to attend the wedding of a family member who left her baby alone on a park bench.

As the mother explains, her sister-in-law then

“Called me, sobbing saying that I’m a ‘petty b****’ and she wishes someone had’ve kidnapped my daughter.”

The whole situation ended up on Reddit where hundreds of people had something to say on the subject. Most agreed that the sister-in-law/bride-to-be was being awful and that the mum should absolutely give the wedding a miss. Others, however, thought it was an honest mistake and she should be forgiven.

We’re torn on this one. I mean, leaving a baby at a park is pretty bad. But so is holding a grudge. What would you do???

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Avatar of Jenna Galley

Born and raised in Canada, Jenna now lives in Far North Queensland with her tribe. When the mum-of-three is not writing, you can find her floating in the pool, watching princess movies, frolicking on the beach, bouncing her baby to sleep or nagging her older kids to put on their pants.

2 Comments

  1. Avatar of Kat

    Accidents happen, I do get that, this was a pretty huge one. I appreciate mum wanting to get some distance and deciding against attending the wedding. But the kicker was when SIL said, ‘I wish some had kidnapped your baby’ and called her petty. Nope. Done. That is an incredibly horrific thing to say to a person with regard to a mistake you made. I fully support mum and encourage her to sharpen her scissors and cut that SIL right out. That’s awful on top of horrible.

  2. Avatar of Jo

    I wouldn’t have gone to the wedding either. The sister in law was in the wrong and no way I’d forgive anyone who left my babies. My babies are worth more than someone’s feelings!

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