Teen Babysitter Gets in Fight with Mom of 'Massive' Sons Over Feeling Unsafe

The tale, posted to an anonymous forum, saw the student seeking guidance and support, prompting the Reddit community to come out in force to offer counsel in what became a highly popular post.

Read on to see how the story unfolded and, in particular, how the girl expanded the narrative within the comments.

"I have been babysitting occasionally for a few families for the past 2 years," the post began, as the 19-year-old girl went on to explain that she was recently contacted by a new family.

"A week ago, a new family got my numbers from one of the families I babysit for a lot. I told them upfront that I have this rule where I only babysit boys that are 10 and under, but when it comes to girls, the age isn't an issue for me," she recounted.

"They told me they had two boys, ages 9 and 10, so I agreed. They told me that they had very important plans the day I am to babysit and I assured them I am very professional and will be there on time and all that."

Then, to her surprise, she met the boys who were not what she expected.

"The day came and I went to their house and the dad greeted me then took me to their living room to meet the boys. To my surprise, the boys looked like no 9 and 10 [year old] I've ever met. One looked 12 and the other looked he could be 15 or even 16. Both were taller than me and the older one even had some visible facial hair."

"All that was going through my head was these parents lied to me about the ages because I lead with my rule about ages and they lied to me just so I would accept," she recalled. "When the mother came down and greeted me, I asked to speak to her in another room and I told her I cannot babysit. I was also truthful about the reason and she was livid."

What followed was an all out argument between her and the mom.

"We got into a back and forth where I basically said that I feel they lied about the ages and she even said 'oh so you want me to show you their birth certificates to believe me?'. At this point I was kinda mad because she was immediately livid and I also felt like I was fooled. Anyways, I said 'Yeah, some proof would help'."

"She stomped off to the living room and I could hear her tell her husband 'get this b**** out of my house, I will stay with the boys!'. I walked out of the kitchen towards the front door and announced 'I'm leaving!' before I stepped out."

"Later that night the mom of the family who recommended me called and was also pretty angry. I explained that these boys looked so much older than there were said to be and there was no way they weren't lying. She said maybe one is actually 11 but the other is truly 9 and that they just look like they were so much older."

OP (original poster) went on to give more background on some of her reasoning.

"To be fair the mother was tall and the dad was huge, it's actually the reason I asked to confront the mother and not the father. But boys weren't just tall but also looked older face-wise. Also, babysitting 2 strange boys who were both taller and clearly so much stronger than me doesn't feel safe, which is why I have the age rule in the first place."

"There was no way that their mother didn't realize her boys looked so much older than boys their ages," she concluded. "I feel like it was something she should've mentioned after telling her my rule about the ages. I felt like I was justified but I also felt bad that I ruined their plans. Everyone involved is angry with me and I wonder if maybe I was overreacting and should've just babysat since I agreed. Right now I don't know what to think. Was I the a--hole here?"

It goes without saying, almost no one in the Reddit community felt the teen was an a--hole but there were definitely plenty of questions from curious commenters.

Most striking of all was how responsive OP was to any and all questions -- even the naysayers -- which allowed for the story to be expanded upon with further details.

For example when one Redditor scoffed at her fears regarding "young men" and advised her (not too kindly) to go to therapy, the young girl replied: "The issue isn't simply height. It's strength. I could defend myself against a girl even if she was taller. Same with boys ages 10 and under, 99% of the time. I don't just physically restrain kids just for the sake of it, but a babysitter should be able to do that, especially with 2 or more boys. Brothers tend to physically fight with each other, even if just playfully most of the time. I need to be able to stop it without hurting them or being hurt by them in the process."

She went on to clarify: "I never called them threats and I never interacted with the kids beyond greeting them in the very beginning, so I doubt they'll feel hurt by what happened unless the mom goes and tells them the reason I refused to babysit."

Elsewhere, she listed the size of both boys: "I'm 5'4. The oldest was somewhere between 5'9-6' with a heavier build. The youngest was lying on the couch and seemed to be around his brother's height but with a much more younger look and build."

When someone questioned how old the boys really were, OP replied: "She [the babysitting client who referred her to the family] actually told me the oldest is only 12 when I told her he looked 15 or 16. When I told her his mother said he was 10, she said 'oh well maybe he just turned 11'. She said she assumed he was 12 because he was in the grade above her daughter who was 11, but that he probably just started school earlier than her daughter."

Meanwhile, another commenter asked: "Are you and this family of different races? There's a pretty strong body of research suggesting that white women tend to significantly overestimate the ages of Black boys. It would add a ton of context."

To this she replied: "The dad and boys all looked white. The mom was clearly asian."

OP also noted: "Height alone is not the issue but more build, perceived physical strength and puberty related things. The 10 and under rule never failed me until now. I don't even know how to make a clear rule about all those, especially the puberty part, without it feeling kinda weird and even creepy to ask."

What do you think?