A man has been left at home with his and his neighbour's daughters so many times he thinks he deserves to be paid for it – but his wife totally disagrees, rejecting his requests to be 'paid' for 'babysitting' his own children.
The 39-year-old man took to Reddit's Am I The A**hole forum to explain the situation, and asked whether he was being unreasonable about the whole situation.
In the post, the unnamed man wrote: "My wife (34) and I live at a suburban house with our daughter (10). Our neighbour next door (48, Walther) is a single father with two daughters (12 and 14). We have been living here for a little more than two years.
"My wife really likes watching scary movies but I have never enjoyed them. I get too scared and end up having a bad time so I prefer to avoid them"
He explained that his wife likes "older, indies and foreign horror movies", so she was delighted when the neighbour, who he calls 'Walther', shared the niche. They arranged to go out for movie nights and also for dinner, but although he was invited, the husband never wanted to join.
The duo have started meeting up regularly as friends, while the husband has stayed at home with the kids.
He added: "This has become a regular thing and it is in a way a good deal for me because Walter pays for my wife's dinner and she can't no longer complain about me not taking her to fancy restaurants."
"As both their movie and dinner nights had became so common, I have grown a little tired of the burden of constantly babysitting the girls.
"I talk to my wife and Walter about it and he explained that he usually does not like leaving his daughters with babysitters. He says he is really comfortable knowing that they are being watched by an experienced father like me instead of some teenage girl.
"He nevertheless agreed that it was too much of a load for me and offered to start paying me a standard babysitter fee each time he goes out with my wife."
The husband thought the approach was "fair" but his wife was "fully against it", because he shouldn't be paid for "babysitting my own daughter nor the daughters of a close friend of our family".
The situation has caused quite a stir in the comment section, with many siding with the man's wife.
One person said: "You're the a**hole for several reasons, two of which are calling taking care of your own kid 'babysitting' and not really caring about your marriage. Don't be surprised if your wife ends up leaving you for Walter, if they're not already having an affair."
Another said: "Walter and your wife might have a common interest but they’ve tried to involve you in things outside of that like going out to eat and you refused, and now you’re complaining about sitting at home and moping and 'babysitting' which you CHOSE to do. Also, ticking the box of taking your wife out for a nice dinner by letting someone else do it??"
A third agreed, saying: "It's not babysitting, it's being a parent. Also, are you aware you're pushing your wife into the arms of another man?"
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
