Woman won’t let sister get to know daughter as she had no interest in her for years

A woman claims her sister has suddenly shown an interest in getting to know her eight-year-old daughter, despite having shown no interest in her when she was first born

A woman says she’s now refusing to let her sister look after her eight-year-old daughter, as she’s only just begun to express any interest in her at all. According to this ticked-off mum, her sister “refused to even touch” the little girl when she was first born, declaring she just “doesn’t like small kids, especially babies, and never wants to have them”.

She was saddened by this attitude at the time and questioned why she wouldn’t want to interact with her own family members simply because she herself doesn’t like or want children. In response to this, her sister merely shrugged and handed her a card. After this point, she says her sister became a bit of an “outcast” in the family and was “always starting some kind of drama with someone.”

However, everything changed a couple of months back, after her sister began taking more of an interest in her daughter, asking about her favourite colours and films, and even treating her to gifts.

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Taking to Reddit, where she goes by the username u/throwawaymomk, the annoyed woman explained: “I asked her why after all this time, she wanted to get to know my daughter.

“She said it was because my daughter was quite older now and wasn’t a screaming baby. ‘She can hold a conversation now so I think we’ll get along just fine’.

“I shook my head and said she made her decision to not interact with her years ago. I told her she doesn’t just get to randomly decide when she wants to act like an aunt. ‘I don’t even think you love her. How could you? You don’t even call me half the time’. She said she was trying to be an aunt, I just had to give her a chance.”

She continued: “I told her I had tried giving her many chances and she blew it. She called me an a******, said I couldn’t let go of the past and that she knew me getting pregnant was the end of the sister she once knew. She hung up and I told my husband everything. He says I have every right not to let her in my daughter’s life but I feel so unsure. The rest of the family agrees.”

Although she doesn’t like how her sister has acted, she now wonders whether she should have responded differently in retrospect, and has reached out to her fellow Reddit users for some words of wisdom.

One person advised: “Decisions have consequences. Being childfree is fine, but to refuse to interact with someone for almost a decade and then act like she can just waltz back in and everything will be smooth sailing is ridiculous. Life doesn’t work like that. She’s only thinking of herself and not your child.

“Your child is a stranger to her. They have no bond. She missed out on her entire life and now selfishly wants back in. You don’t need to give her a chance if it means protecting your daughter from people that aren’t good for her.”

Another said: “When my two nieces were little, under six or so, there was not much of a relationship. They could tell I was uncomfortable, which made them uncomfortable.

“As they got older and developed personalities, we started being able to connect a bit. I know I will never be a story-book favorite Auntie, but they like telling me about school and their friends, and they ask for my help with homework, so that’s progress.

“Some people out there just do not connect well with kids. Most of us handle it with tact and grace, and I’m sorry your sister didn’t.”

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