'AITA for kicking out my sister-in-law for bringing meat into my home?'
"AITA for kicking out my sister-in-law for bringing meat into my home?"
I am vegan. For my own personal ethical reasons. I have no problem with other people eating meat. I have been watching my nephews on the weekends for the last few months to help my brother out.
Him and his wife work opposite schedules during the week and barely see each other. So the boys get dropped off with me on Friday night and get picked up Sunday night. I feed them on Saturday and up until an afternoon snack on Sunday.
My brother gives me some money to watch them but I don't really need it and usually end up spending it on outings for the three of us. Movies, the zoo, museums, that sort of stuff. I like being the fun aunt. I do not limit what the boys eat. If we are out somewhere and they want a burger or chicken nuggets they get that.
Well their mom found out that the meals at my home were vegan and she had a problem with that. So she packed them snacks with meat. Like jerky and pepperoni sticks and string cheese. I don't want that in my house so I asked her to please not do it again. But she did. So I said that until she understood my very simple rules I would not allow her in the house and I would not watch the kids.
She thinks I'm being an a^%$#le because her children 'need' meat. And that I should be grateful for the extra money I get for watching my nephews. Once again I probably spend more on them every weekend than I get from my brother. My parents know how I feel about meat.
They know I won't even get a dog or a cat as a pet because they need meat in their diets. My brother has asked me to please go back to the way it was. I have no problem with that but he has to control his wife. AITA?
Here's what people had to say to OP:
avocadosdontbite writes:
YTA. If you don't want to babysit anymore, don't babysit. But these are their children and you should respect their wishes. They are not asking you to cook anything. They are providing snacks and just asking that you give them to the boys. The boys themselves may have complained to their mom and dad that they are hungry on the weekends and do not like the food served in your house.
I also think this is a weird hill to die on. You are fine buying them hamburgers and chicken nuggets when you are out at the zoo with them, but if their mom sends a string cheese with them to be kept in your refrigerator for snacking, that is the absolute end of the world?
umlebwoski writes:
NTA. Kids don’t “need” meat everyday, and you’re not restricting them from eating meat when you’re out and about with them anyway. If she wants to feed them animal products on the weekends, she needs to either be watching them herself or paying for a market-rate childcare service - not insisting that you keep meat and dairy products in your own home.
malinmoana writes:
NTA - your house, your rules. It doesn’t hurt them to eat vegan for a few meals while in your home, and you still allow them to order as they please when out and about. SIL is free to get childcare elsewhere. As others have pointed out, I doubt they’ll be able to find anything for near the amount of money you accepted and care you provided. Taking them for most of the weekend every week is a massive favor.
The cheek of this woman, good grief. Get a bargain on babysitting with someone trustworthy and who loves her kids and she wants to toss that over her kids not having meat for what....like 4.5 meals a week? Gimme a break. NTA.
She doesn't want meat in her home. It is her ethical choice. The children are not being harmed. The parents are free to find someone else to watch them. She offered to watch them for free and spends the money they gave her on outings for the kids. Sounds like the best game in town.
I am not vegan but I don't see anything wrong with her asking them to respect her wishes. She also said she had been feeding the kids vegan meals for a period of time before SIL decided this is the fight she wants.