It’s been said that while every child deserves parents, not all parents deserve a child. Whether they’re lazy, irresponsible, or downright negligent, some children’s parents can make things a nightmare for those around them, indoors and out.
One woman’s neighbors kept dumping their 1-year-old twins at her place then disappearing for hours, never answering their phones. Fed up, the woman let them know that she and her roommates weren’t babysitters, but now she’s wondering if that was a jerk move.
More info: Reddit
Some people have no limits to their sense of entitlement, as this woman and her roommates found out the hard way
Image credits: RDNE Stock project / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Her neighbors got into the habit of dropping off their one-year-old twins at her apartment then disappearing for hours and not answering their phones
Image credits: Tatiana Syrikova / Pexels (not the actual photo)
After one request too many, the woman told them that she and her roommates weren’t babysitters and if they disappeared again, she’d call CPS
Image credits: Anastasia Trofimczyk / Pexels (not the actual photo)
The dad called the woman and her roommates a bunch of spineless leeches, and other parents in the complex said they were being harsh and uncompassionate
Image credits: Lanky-Studio5874
At a loss, the woman turned to netizens to ask whether or not she was a jerk for threatening the inconsiderate parents with institutional action
OP begins her story by telling the community that she shares an apartment with Casey, Nellie, Hannah, and Hannah’s eight-month-old daughter. She goes on to share the issue at hand: her neighbors. Apparently, the neighbors have a set of one-year-old twins that they like to bring over for playdates.
The problem is that recently, they’ve been using the playdates as a reason to dump their kids on Hannah and the rest of the roommates before disappearing for hours and not answering their phones. OP goes on to explain that she loves kids and would have no problem babysitting them, but that she and her roommates all have work and college.
The parents’ disappearing act has meant that she and her roommates have been late to class or their jobs, an untenable situation. Recently, the four roommates had been planning on going out for lunch and shopping when the neighbor showed up asking them if they wouldn’t watch his kids while he went out to see a movie.
Well, this was the last straw for OP. She point blank let the dad know that she and her roommates weren’t babysitters and that if he abandoned them again, she’d call Child Protective Services. The dad responded by calling her and her housemates a bunch of spineless leeches, leaving OP to ask netizens if she was the jerk in the situation.
In an update to her post, OP reveals to her readers that she ended up calling CPS on the absentee parents and, together with her roommates, has agreed to avoid them and not answer the door to them. She concludes by saying that her lease is ending soon, and the housemates are planning on moving out.
Image credits: EyeEm / Freepik (not the actual photo)
From what OP tells us in her post, the offending parents seem to have quite the sense of entitlement. If you’ve ever had to deal with someone who always thinks the world owes them something, you’ll know just how frustrating it can be. So, what’s the best way to deal with entitled people? We went looking for answers.
In her article for VeryWellMind, Arlin Cuncic lists some signs of a sense of entitlement, including having a need for special treatment, having high demands, expecting others to do things for them, prioritizing their own needs, being melodramatic, expressing a lack of gratitude, and needing constant praise.
According to Cuncic, a few methods to deal with entitled people include establishing boundaries, practicing saying “No,” and encouraging the entitled person to problem solve, since persuading people to investigate ways to help themselves can foster greater self-sufficiency - useful when you consider most entitled people suffer from chronic insecurity.
Entitled people often inadvertently provide a lot of entertainment through their over-the-top expectations and unintentional humor. Noteworthy examples include this collection of screenshots and this list of forty times people shamed entitled jerks online.
So, hopefully, you now know a few ways to deal with entitled people. If you really hit a wall, you can always try to find the humor in the situation, but it’s clear that OP never will.
What would you have done if you’d found yourself in OP’s shoes? Do you think she was being a jerk, or are the entitled parents barking up the wrong tree? Let us know your opinion in the comments!
In the comments, readers swiftly concluded that the woman wasn’t being a jerk, and some suggested recruiting the critical parents in the complex to volunteer for free babysitting duties
