Boundaries are incredibly important, in every area of your life. Whether we’re talking about personal, family, or professional relationships. Some people, however, walk all over any implied boundaries, so you need to reinforce them and follow through on them, otherwise, things can get very, very emotionally messy.

A 26-year-old mom of two kids, who are 3 and 4 years old, turned to the AITA online community for their advice and wisdom on a situation that happened with a new babysitter, a friend of her mother-in-law’s. The latter insisted that her friend babysits for the couple for free, even though the two young professionals had no problem at all affording a professional sitter. Eventually, they relented.

Though things started out just fine, the situation took a dramatic and bizarre turn when one of the redditor’s kids asked her if she’s their real mom. That’s when the truth finally came out: the desperate new babysitter had been filling the kids’ heads with lies. The mom decided that some drastic action needed to be taken, though the fallout was pretty heavy. You’ll find the full story below, dear Pandas. When you’re done reading it, we’d like to know what you would have done in this situation and if you think the mom was right to react the way she did.

A mom was pressured by her mother-in-law to let a friend babysit her two children for free

Image credits: Anna Shvets (not the actual photo)

Even though things seemed to be fine at first, the mom eventually noticed a huge red flag with the new sitter

The couple immediately took steps to rectify the situation when they realized something was wrong

The mom wanted the AITA community’s verdict on whether she did the right thing, in the end

The entire situation would likely have gotten way out of hand if the new babysitter had been left to her own devices. Personally, I find it inexcusable that the sitter yelled at the kids and lied to them, trying to turn them against their own mother. It’s unprofessional. It’s manipulative. It’s just darn plain wrong!

Probably the worst part is that the author of the post’s mother-in-law insisted that they hire her friend and later started screaming at the couple when things didn’t work out. It seems that the MIL was putting her friendship ahead of her actual family’s welfare. Though we might love our friends, I still believe that family comes first. And you can’t sabotage family matters for the sake of your friend feeling a bit better about her life. There are other, healthier ways to do that which don’t result in family drama and everybody feeling like a big bunch of garbage.

According to ‘Care,’ parents should always trust their gut feelings when considering a babysitter for hire. Your intuition is there for a reason, use it. “In addition to properly screening a caregiver and monitoring the quality of care children receive, parents should never disregard their gut feeling about a provider. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t,” Michelle LaRowe, the founder of the ‘NannyTraining’ project explained. Though it’s always a good idea to get a second opinion if you’re usually anxious or suspicious about most things. Try to listen to your gut, heart, and brain all at once.

Some other things that might be potential red flags include the fact that your child doesn’t look cared for when you get back home or starts developing unusual behavior and habits. What’s more, if your kid isn’t reacting all that well when the sitter shows up, there might be some issues there, too. Parents also ought to be concerned if a nanny completely ignores their instructions about bedtime, playtime, and food.

Most internet users sided with the mom. Here’s what they had to say about the entire bizarre situation

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