Guy Has A “No Chocolate” Rule While Babysitting His Sibling’s Kids, They Break It So He Says He’ll Never Babysit Again
This story comes from a single and childfree 37-year-old man who is a dad to two dogs that are German Shepherd mixes. Since the author has four sisters with ten kids in total, you can suspect he gets to babysit every now and then. In fact, “I babysit A LOT,” Dogloverforeverr wrote in a post on AITA.
“I have just one super strict rule at my house: no chocolate,” he said and added that not only is it ‘deadly for dogs,’ but he doesn’t ‘like it anyway’. As you can imagine, not every little kid is well aware of how important it is to stick to the rules set by a homeowner.
On one occasion, “I came into the living room and there were obviously chocolate crumbs everywhere.” Understandably, the author got seriously mad. He also found out they always carry some on them since their mom just gives it to them. And this seemed to be the last drop of his patience.
A man was babysitting his sister’s kids only to find them eating chocolate, which he clearly said was forbidden because of the dogs
Image credits: Nathan Dumlao (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Anna Dudkova (not the actual photo)
Interestingly, Canine Cottages’ recent study showed that a substantial 38% of pet owners didn’t know that chocolate was toxic to their pets. So to find out more about the threats it poses to our beloved canines, Bored Panda reached out to Shannon Keary, the Digital PR Manager at Canine Cottages.
“Chocolate is very dangerous for our dogs because it includes the chemical Theobromine, which acts like caffeine for our dogs. Ingestion of chocolate causes twitching, high heart rate, and hyperactivity in the short-term, but if left untreated, it can cause our pets to develop heart arrhythmias, kidney failure, and even seizures,” Keary explained.
Keary warns pet owners that if their dog has eaten chocolate, it’s important to seek help from a vet as soon as possible, as they’ll be able to provide help for your pet and provide medicine or pump your dog’s stomach if necessary.
Yulia Popyk, an animal behavior expert from Petcube Emergency Fund also told Bored Panda that while chocolate is not immediately poisonous to dogs, it can be dangerous if consumed in large amounts. “Chocolate contains theobromine, a bitter alkaloid that is a stimulant. In small amounts, theobromine is not harmful to dogs. However, in large amounts, theobromine can cause vomiting, diarrhea, panting, excessive thirst, restlessness, and an increased heart rate. In severe cases, theobromine can cause seizures and even death,” she commented.
There are many other food products that can be harmful to dogs including coffee which contains caffeine and which is also toxic to dogs in large quantities. Alcohol can be fatal to dogs even in small quantities. Grapes and raisins can cause kidney failure in dogs. Macadamia nuts can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and tremors in dogs.
Popyk said that as a dog owner, you should be very careful about what you feed them. “Some human foods are nutritious for dogs and can even help with some medical conditions. However, some human foods can be poisonous to dogs, so it is important to do your research before feeding your dog anything other than dog food.”
And this is what people had to comment about the incident
This is completely out of left field, given the article, but the lying aspect brought it to mind and it’s not talked about enough and desperately NEEDS to be shared: DON’T TEACH KIDS TO LIE AND KEEP SECRETS. This is the foundation for “grooming” and cannot be tolerated until they are old enough to understand what a sexual predator is. Grandma, telling your grandchild, “it’s our little secret, don’t tell your parents” isn’t cute, it’s dangerous. You’re teaching children to do things they know their parents wouldn’t like. Creepy Joe next door will start the same way and slowly start blackmailing in a way only kids will fall for. “If you don’t pull down your pants I’ll tell your parents about all the chocolate you are.” Then, “If you don’t XYZ I’ll show them the pic of your pants pulled down”. If you wanna keep kids safe, #1 rule above all others is to have loving and clear communication and trust.
This needs to be taught.... at school maybe? I don't know where. Maybe a brochure when you deliver a baby? Not many people even think about such things. We grew up ok like this, why not our own children too? What's so bad about a little secret? You know, ignorance. Sadly, even those who do hear such things, don't take it seriously most of the time.
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“Putting the dogs before the kids.” No, they put the dogs in jeopardy for a snack.
Doesn’t really matter to go into discussion about chocolate - it’s about knowingly breaking a set rule and horrible parenting to teach kids to lie to trusted family members. My sister used to give my kids candy and soda they didn’t get at home (too young), and she thought it Made her the cool aunt. I bet she’d give them a beer now even though they’re a few years under legal drinking age, just for the same reason.
Yes chocolate is toxic to dogs and definitely not worth the risk but I think the biggest issue is that the mother provided her children with "secret chocolate" against the uncle's wishes. Considering it's him doing them a favour I think it's quite reasonable to ask them to go without chocolate for a short time. Small amounts of chocolate likely won't kill a dog but can make them violently ill and cause them pain so it's really not something to scoff at. It's not this guy being TAH and putting his dogs before the "niblings", it's a guy protecting part of his family and giving a basic consequence to other family members who apparently have no respect for him or his home. He's not saying the kids can't eat or have sweets at his place (as far as I can tell) but specifically no chocolate. That doesn't seem unreasonable
Those that starve the most try to eat the hand that feeds. And we can see how that turns out.
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Wow. What blatant disrespect both sisters and your mom have for you. It's "Your House, Your Rules." If they don't like it, they can lump it. Do NOT waiver unless there is a sit down with the siblings and the niblings. Btw, I've never heard "niblings" before but I think it's adorable. I'm guessing it's taking the N from niece/nephew and adding it to sibling. I'm in the US.
I find niblings very useful word (as you can probably tell from my name...)
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For a lot of us, our companion animals ARE our kids. Would the sisters blow it off if op gave the kids a snack their mothers had forbidden or maybe had an allergy to? NTA. Your family seems to think it's ok to take your generously given time for granted. This is a good opportunity to show them it's not.
Preach! This is so true! He needs to stop being free Childcare.
Load More Replies... This is way more about honesty and respect than it is about chocolate. The sister was dishonest and did not respect her sibling at all, and taught her kids to do the same. That's reason enough to stop babysitting for her.
You are never wrong for putting your dogs before somebody else's children. Also, you didn't even do that, your sister just isn't trustworthy. If the children got the chocolate without her knowledge, it would be another story, but she gave it to them, blatantly disrespecting your rules.
THIS is the key here. She knowingly broke the one agreed-upon rule, for the sake of something meaningless -- her kids eating one kind of snack over some other kind that would have been allowed. She has zero respect for you or your rules, and that cannot be tolerated.
Load More Replies... I agree with OP, but I have one point to be made. I just hope he does not unwittingly put the kids in the middle of his argument with his sister. A similar situation with my mother's relatives happened regarding me as kid and it seriously traumatized me because I thought the rift was my fault. I didn't even know the exact cause until adulthood when I visited said relatives and they jokingly told me about how they fed me sweets behind my mother's back (knowing that she would be against it) because they thought I was too thin and wanted to fatten me up. Even after all those years they still had no clue what chaos they unleashed. I was only six years old and understood NONE of what was going on. Adults need to keep in mind that children process things very differently from adults and that it needs to be explained to them that if a family conflict happens, IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT. I know the children broke the rules too but it is really their mother's fault.
It is NOT your fault and you are NOT responsible for any of they CHOSE to do! They put you in the middle and that was wrong. As a child you have no real concept of the games and mind games adults play. And they should know better and they really do but they choose to do the wrong thing so the consequences are on them but unfortunately they affect you! Don't ever let anyone tell you differently.
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It's not prioritizing his dogs over her kids. It's prioritizing his dogs' LIVES over her kids' TREATS.
Exactly! Those who think he is wrong to put pets before people are trivialising the risk and making it sound like children can't manage with sweets for a few hours. Good grief! Not going to hurt them to eat something else and it could harm the dogs if one puts the bar down for a moment and a dog gets it, a very real risk. What's the matter with people? It is sad that they see animals as mattering so little. There are plenty of parents who don't let their children eat sweets at all. Or snack between meals. Funny how they are perfectly okay.
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Iam also a dog owner of three beautiful dogs two bluenose Pit mastiff one red nose pit and I fully understand how you feel. I don't want anything to happen to them no matter if it isn't deadly. But people tend to not understand that it's our responsibility to insure their safety medically for obvious reasons. Their like my babies. I love them as they do love me. If someone put them in any way of being harmed than your not welcomed to be around them. Yes I love my family. But also I love my dogs cause their family as well. I feel your family should respect your rules while in your home. It's not different if you would allow their children in to do something that their parent forbid. I m on your side if something would happen to your dogs, you would be seeking help along with inquiring Vet bills which is unnecessary if only family would not have followed your rules in the first place. My dogs are very special to me. I Will Not allow anyone to harm them. My house My Rules
Apart from the really shitty behaviour from the sister... .........the kids cant go without chocolate even for a few hours? Why do the mum send candy at all? Was the smaller ones parents informed there was a secret candy club going on and was it OK for them to have their kids munching on regular basis?
"Hey can you babysit? Your payment is that the whole family will disregard your rules in your own home, lie to you about it, and make you out to be the bad guy if any of that is a problem for you." Hard pass. I wouldn't open my doors to any of them ever again, just go to their houses if you really want to see them. If the kids are upset about it, explain that you value honesty and respect and that you will be sticking to those boundaries. It's a good lesson for them to learn and apparently their parents aren't teaching it, so someone should.
Putting your dogs first is only a bad thing if they're your kids and too young to know. My dog or other people's kids - not even a question. And even your own kids can deal with it in certain situations and at a certain age.
Chocolate is dangerous to dogs because it can destroy their nervous system. Although a few chocolate crumbs won't make a big difference to a dogs overall health, the point is that it was a rule set down by the provider of a free service. When my son was in school, children were not allowed to share food because of potential allergy issues. My son's school eventually made a no peanut butter rule after a child ignored the no sharing policy and sent a classmate to the hospital with anaphylaxis. So the rest of the children in the school got punished for one kid ignoring the rules. If sis wants to keep ignoring it, maybe he will stop babysitting for everyone. Will her sisters back her up then?
I do completely agree with all your points but would add one thing, I have seen three year olds (and older) rashly feed their sandwich, Ice cream, snacks and sweets to dogs (some then regretted it) and I would in no way trust a three year old not to do something similar with a whole bar of chocolate. They don't have the actions = consequences thing down exactly and, oops, realise afterwards there is no chocolate anymore. Let alone what it means for the dog! I would not want the risk. This man's sister is also teaching her children some horrible lessons. Lie and do what you want, marvellous.
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NTA. This happened to me on Christmas one year. I took care of my 11 yo nephew who received a giant toblerone from his mom for christmas. I have 2 dogs and explained to him the dangers of chocolate for dogs. The next morning, I found one of my dogs deathly ill because he left that candy bar on the floor in his room. Imagine the cost of an emergency vet the day after Christmas. Luckily my dog survived, but I never watched that child again, and never received an apology or reimbursement from he or my sister. The vet bill was 2 thousand dollars, round the clock ivs, etc. The lying aspect of your story makes this so much worse. Kids make mistakes, but for the parent to tell the children to keep it a secret is disrespectful and out of line. What a message that parent is sending to you and to her children. Definately NTA, but your sister is.
Thank you for sharing this. The few people on here saying 'crumbs won't harm' aren''t bearing in mind how careless children can be, sadly. They aren't wrong but a child can put the chocolate down for a second and most dogs would have it before you can blink! We don't know how much chocolate they had either. Enough for the four of them, clearly. I am so very, very glad your dog is okay.
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No more babysitting. A very necessary rule was broken and if one of the dogs had eaten the chocolate, would the sister even care? I doubt it because bringing the chocolate shows just how little she cares about your dogs. Show her how disrespectful she was to you and tell her to get one of her sisters to babysit, or better yet drop them in grandma's lap.
They're using you as a free sitter! Trust me I've been taken advantage of lots. I too have zero kids and siblings have several. I'm 41
omg - so not the a hole! and, guess what? this man may not have bipedal children; but, he does have quadpedal kids. those pups are his kids & he has the right to make the rules for the safety of his kids. the fact that his sister covertly allowed them to have chocolate on that day means it wasn't the first w/the statement "we eat in secret". as a life long dog owner i am aware of what is dangerous for dogs. i consider myself the luckiest floofer owner in the world due to the fact i returned home and discovered my doberman had eaten approximately a half pound of godiva chocolate with zero effects. this happened while at work. immediately called vet who asked how long it had been since she had eated it. had no idea. she told me (really!) to smell her breath. nope-just doggo fumes. vet said if it wasn't recent & she showed no ill effects then to just keep an eye on her which meant i didn't sleep that night. she was fine but again i say, i am the luckiest mom
My dog got hold of a pack of chewing gum that, yes, did have ingredients that would harm him. It fell on the floor during unpacking of shopping. He is a traumatised rescue who is impossible to get things off when he wants to keep them. He spent the afternoon at the vets being made sick and I still feel awful that he went through that. Was also during a covid lockdown so I couldn't be in the vets with him and had to wait outside. I expect, like me, you are super careful with food around your beloved dogs. It is all kept out of reach normally. Happy endings, phew!!
Load More Replies... Does his idiot sisters even realize how fortunate they are to have a free babysitter on a regular basis for 10 kids. And he even moves around his work to accommodate them for the younger kids and they teach their children to lie and deceive him ? They are all awful and so is mom. Tell mom to babysit their lying daughters offspring if she's ok with all of this. Horrible adults except for the lovely brother who has been treated like dirt in his own home.
So she lied to him, ignored his rules and taught the kids how to manipulate people with lies at a very early age.. Charming.
What's more important, chocolate, or trust? OP's sister: Chocolate. Definitely chocolate.
The sister is “furious” because he won’t do free babysitting anymore? Shows how grateful she was all along…
Op could have just as easy have sold the kids in lieu of payment for services rendered. The chocolate constitutes a breach of contract. Op could then file a mechanics lien against said children and after 90 days sold them at auction. Or I maybe thinking about an oil change on a car. I forget
I have this rule, Im deadly allergic to all kinds of chocolate, I allow others to eat it if i trust them but even a crumb cause cause me to end up in the hospital, the spot will swell up and get worse, AND THATS JUST TOUCHING IT, Thank fully i have a family based on truth, I dont care if they eat it in front of me, as long as they know they cant touch me or anything i go near, meaning my house
Fair rule. Fact is, they can all go without it around you, so you are being very generous. Zero people need chocolate that much. No matter how lovely most of us find it. Hope you are always safe from the stuff.
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Yeah teaching kids it's ok to break rules as long as you don't get caught seems like irresponsible parenting. What's more, it shouldn't matter what the reason for the rule is, it's his house, it's a very simple rule to observe, and it's about respect.
NTA you were in your right to have rules and they choose to not follow them. End of story.
In addition to all the issues regarding the mother's lack of respect for the rules, I have to say that there is something wrong with a mother who thinks it's healthy and normal for her kids to have access to sweets ALL THE TIME. That is seriously setting them up for health issues and is borderline child abuse. They can't even go a few hours without chocolate? Hello, eating disorders are in your children's future!
Not your children, not your problem. 5hey can pay for a babysitter if they feel too entitled to regard rules and boundaries of normal people.
With Truth there is Love With Love there is Life With Life there is Humanity With Lies there is Chaos! Period. Tell your Whole Freaking Family That. Then you will see who really Loves you and who just uses & abuses. Period.
Im not even an animal person and i dont think there was an over reaction at all. How do you blantantly disrespect your brother and his home and have the nerve to be mad that there are consequences. 🙄
NTA! So we have a man who cares enough about his sisters and wants to be a part of his nieces & nephews that he's willing to give up his free time and babysit. I'm assuming for free, Like any responsible adult he does have some rules for the protection of his home and beloved dogs. We all know dogs beg and children feed, that's just what kids and dogs do! These women respond with complete disrespect for their brother, and then blame him for it. Bunch of entitled moms raising entitled children in my opinion.
NTA but your sister is. When you graciously do something for someone and you have every right to lay down rules and boundaries in your own home and on your own time, especially when you're doing a service for free. And when the receiver of those services boldly violates your rules and boundaries, which are extremely reasonable, and she lies and by proxy, gets her children to lie, which is bad parenting, you have every right to be angry and end or withhold those services and no one else has any say in the matter! You were totally disrespected and lied to and your dogs, your children, were endangered and that's just wrong and so is your mother. She's just as bad as your sister because she's enabling those behaviors and they're forgetting you are all role models for these children and you're the only one setting a good example! You need to point that out to mom and sister!
Ah yes. Let me eat peanuts around this kid with peanut allergies. Let's take a stroll through this beekeeper's hives despite you saying you are allergic. What? You want seafood for dinner even though one bite is your kryptonite? I am so glad none of these will put you in the hospital and or kill you. And I am mature enough to not tell you we are doing any of this.
It's your sisters loss not yours. Your mother and other sister have no respect of your feelings. I love my children and my dogs as well my kids would be punished if they did something to harm the dogs. Of course they never would because they also love the dogs. By the way the dogs would be punished also if they did anything bad to the kids but they have never. Your sisters children are inconsiderate and thoughtless. They don't care about you or your pets and their mother has failed to teach them to appreciate anything other than themselves. Stick to your principles your sisters need you more than you need them.
Shame on your Mother and your Sisters, they knew this was a rule set in your home for everyone to follow, but your Sister decided to teach them they don't have to respect your home or your guidance for them while their in your care. I would suggest you totally stop keeping the children until you can develop a trusting relationship with them that their Mom can't influence. And you should have a talk with your nieces and tell them since they broke the rules and have been breaking the rules for quite sometime they are not allowed to visit until they respect you, your home and the safety of your Dogs because the dogs live there too and the kids should not be creating a unsafe environment for the dogs, they should protect the dogs because the dogs would protect them.
This is coming from the little devil on my shoulder. I'm not like this but came to mind. Next time you babysit the kids, send them home with a big bag of creamy "chocolate", then watch it hit the fan.
Stop being free childcare. If they can't respect your rules, you don't have to watch their kids. They are taking advantage of you. Make them get babysitters. Your dogs are your priority.
NTA!!!!-- Your house your rules..plain and simple and your siblings who you are obviously doing a HUGE solid for by being available to babysit for should understand. Realistically I'm in Canada and I can't sent any chocolate to school in my kids lunches, friends have said that their daycares say the same thing...You are family so they should understand and abide by the rules( not crazy) of your household.
Agree with all the other comments. But... I have a small dog that is pretty well trained with food. He won't steal food or take food from anyone but myself.... Unless it's chocolate or pizza. He's been trained since he was very young and I could leave a plate of food beside me while playing on my phone and he wouldn't touch it. But with chocolate, he's devious. He once stole a piece of chocolate from a box of chocolates and I only realized it when there was nothing but smears left. He weighed about 4 lbs at the time and I was sure he was going die. The vet said that he could have eaten a whole milk chocolate bar and he'd be fine. The problem is with pure chocolate like dark chocolate and white chocolate isn't chocolate at all. So I don't worry anymore when he finds the odd chocolate chip... Regardless, if OP doesn't want chocolate in his home, it seems rather spiteful for sister to send her kids over with it.
Maybe the biggest NTA ever! Your rule is important, how would those kids feel if the dogs got sick or died because of their actions? Your entitled sisters need to realize that they are raising citizens, not emperors. This "My kids can do anything, rules don't apply to them" is ridiculous and untenable.
Ok ok ok I saw the comment asking what a nibling is and I know this one lol, it's a gender-neutral term for niece/nephew. I know this cuz I did some research when I came out to my family and this is what I asked my aunts and uncles to refer to me as 🙃
I assumed that was what it was although it sounds like it should be for siblings lol but siblings is already gender neutral so it makes sense to use it for siblings kids. Both for enbies, privacy and to save time instead of saying nieces and nephews.
Load More Replies... If the no chocolate rule is for children then what is the issue? Sounds like sister did it just so she'd have one over you and be cool to her kids. Did the other family members know her kids were feeding their kids chocolate without permission? If her kid had a not deadly reaction to peanuts would she be pissed if someone was in her house with peanuts? You betcha and bet she would have an over the top reaction as well.
You are so right in my opinion and they knew your rules and why you made them You are in the right and if they don't understand that they are in the wrong.
NTA. LW has a responsibility to see that the dogs are not harmed, and he's living up to it.
Some breeders think they are superior to others, and can abuse their trust. She f****d about and found out.
"putting the dogs over the kids" if you want to look at it like that, well of course he's doing that, all parents put their own children over their niblings.
NTA. Your rules were broken. Your dogs are your family and as far as I am concerned they have more value than your nieces and nephews. I am sick and tired of people that think human life is above all others. IT IS NOT. My own child would take precedence over my dogs or cats but no one else's children ever would. I don't care whose kids they are. they are in second place, ALWAYS. Go ahead and downvote me, it's worth it.
Ok a dog has to eat a LOT of chocolate to die from it, he's being ridiculous. i love dogs and live the same way he does.
Alteranative viewpoint. Can you just agine the reaction of the 7 and 8 year old. "Where are your doggies Uncle OP?" OP They died. "Why did they die?" OP Because they ate chocolate.
This really has nothing to do with chocolate. It is about respect. Your sisters may have been taught to fake respect to get what they want by your mother. They should apologize and ask for forgiveness from you AND the kids i.e. " I'm sorry we told you to lie to Uncle. Do not ever lie to him. We were very, very wrong." Free babysitting and they act like this? Your sisters and mom are kinda d***s.
Your dogs. Your house. Your rules. They knew the rules. They're banned. TS.
There's so much wrong here. First of all, I would be alarmed that my sister is teaching her kids that it's okay to lie to me. How can one ever trust any of them again. Secondly, I would be deeply wounded by the disrespect for me my one rule after opening my heart and home to all of them.
I'm not going to talk about the chocolate thing - but the lying thing is frightening. And yes, you are right to put your dogs lives/health over the child having a snack. I probably wouldn't have said "no more babysitting", but I would have told the sister that kids and bags will be searched for dangerous goods and any chocolate snacks found would be thrown in the bin. And stop teaching your kids to lie!
First of all, chocolate is not deadly to dogs..caffeine is! A few crumbs will not kill your dog. I agree that it was c**p for your sister to lie, but having a no chocolate rule seems a little OCD to me.
For everyone here who keeps missing the forest for the trees and insisting that "Small amounts of chocolate aren't dangerous for dogs!" and "Well MY dog ate chocolate before and he's fine," I just want to know how you'd feel if you found out your babysitter was giving your kids sips of alcohol while they were under their care, then telling the kids to keep it a secret from you. I mean, giving a child a few sips of beer now and then isn't really dangerous for them, right? It certainly won't kill them, right? And say maybe one day the babysitter accidentally sets their beer down somewhere, and the kid gets hold of it and drinks the entire thing. Nothing terrible happens to them, they just feel sick the rest of the day. But see? The kid is fine! They drank a whole beer and they're still alive, so why you so upset? You people getting all worked up about this are just overreacting! Cont...
Seriously if you *don't* see how it would be 100% justified for the parent in this little hypothetical to be horribly upset, then please never have children. Even *if* a sip or two, or even a whole can of beer wouldn't necessarily hurt a kid, you'd be insane to think it's still OK to give it to them, especially if the one doing the giving is someone you trusted then found out they've been repeatedly lying to you about it.
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I think this one went overboard. I know a dog that ate a bag of Hershey Kisses, foil and all. He was fine.
Talk about a family I'd never trust to dog or homesit if the OP was in need of a returned favor.
Think about it this way...you have a handgun in the house, in a locked room. You've told the kids to never go in that room. But they see their Mom give them chocolate and tell them it's okay, just don't tell Uncle Bob. So they decide it's also okay to pick the lock to see what is in the bedroom. You need to have a one-on-one with your sister to explain that she is teaching her children that lying to people is okay, that boundaries are meant to be broken, and whatever they want to do is fine. Let her know that this will come back to bite her on the a*s someday, when her kids decide she is a chump and they don't need to listen to her anymore. It's time for her to start actually, you know, PARENTING.
Children don't Need chocolate constantly! There are other safe sweets if absolutely essential or lots of healthy treats that are far more tasty. I thought this was going to be about chocolate smears everywhere! Chocolate is dangerous to dogs in large doses 😔 Lying to family is lousy and teaching the kids to lie is despicable. We also have an epidemic of obsese children with horrendous teeth, I just don't get giving them even more chocolate sneakily when the rules are strict with good cause. I assume that the kids adore the dogs so they wouldn't want to be the cause of their death?! Also what the Hell is niblings?? I'm UK, never heard of it in any way 🤷♀️
Your house your rules and you don't need to justify them, those entering your home need to accept and respect those rules or don't come over, simple as that
I refuse to watch my little sisters kid til he can use the bathroom by himself. That's because I raised her for a long time and I refuse to change diapers for ANYONE! My older sister learned that when she said she was going out for 20 mins and came back 5 hrs later. Her kid just slept the whole time so he didn't heed a changing-lucky me. He was about 1 months old at the time and this was over 10 yrs ago but she was pissed that I didn't even check him. I checked on him and kept an eye on him. Kid just slept. Then I went off on her! 20 MINUTES MY A$$!!! Then I told her that it ain't happening again or I'd be calling cps. I'm an adopted child who quite literally raised a child myself for over 6 years! (From ages 2-about 8) My adoptive mom remarried...it's my step dad's daughter that I'm referring to for this. She said my comment was uncalled for and that she needed a break and that I would "understand when you become a mother". Then I went outside and punched the rockwall so I didn't...
Continued... So I didn't knock her teeth in... If someone doesn't listen to what you have to say or what rules you place in your specific area, then screw em! Op NTA! STICK TO YOUR WAYS AND PROTECT YOUR NIBLINGS!!! <3
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Chocolate at our house is under screw on lids up in cabinets never leave the kitchen/LR AREA. 3 elder dogs it would be deadly.kids learn respect for other people through the respect shown by their parents. These know kids ds were taught too lie and be secretive. As they age this will be a serious trust problem. What goes around comes around
I see how much you love your charges, and don't want to abandon them, in your own mind. But just like the instructions on an airplane, you must take care of yourself first, before you can help anyone else. You also have to step up, and understand that you are a person who has value, and you must stop letting others make you feel guilty about things, and control you. It is obvious that is who you are, but you are convinced that you are just being a good friend. A good friend doesn't let others control them, they help when they can, but not at the expense of their own mental health. You must be strong, and ask you spouse to back you up, and tell your brother and SIL, that you are taking 2 weeks off, period. If you want to continue to help with childcare after that, then they must understand that you are not their hired help, but a loving and caring Aunt, and won't be treated as hired help. If you want to help with money, a college fund for your nieces is the best way to go.
Its a simple and reasonable rule just like taking off your shoes or putting the toilet seat down except this rule could actually save the life of his dogs who are a part of his family. Its really bizarre to me that they think the ability to give their kids chocolate during a short visit is more important than the health and life of his dogs. Always respect the homeowners rules regardless of your opinion (within reason). Kind of feels like they were being willfully defiant but i could be wrong.
A quick term for niece and nephew that rhymes with sibling.
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Yep, this is one of the reasons I keep contact with some members of my family to a minimum. People just are this entitled and self absorbed. Good thing about this, I have taught my self to value sincerity and honesty when choosing my friends and romantic partners.
Same as if kids don't have an allergy but dad does, to something like peanuts and you send them home with peanuts. My sis is peanut sensitive and could smell the small amount in a bag of trail mix in my backpack. His sis fked around and found out her own boundary overstep cost losing free babysitting.
Isnt it so adorable?!? Also way faster than typing out nieces and nephews.
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I'm an Aunt, 39, never married and no children and have chosen not to have any either. I watch my sister's and cousin's kids often. I mention this because we might have common ground. You might have seen or heard of it before, how one lightning can strike a tree and burn down a forest? It seems to me you have the upper hand here. NTA, strike where you please but watch your trees.
Now, chocolate is really not thát toxic for dogs it's bad, but the dog needs to eat a lot to he deadly. Either way, a rule is a rule and the kids should have followed it.
NTA. But. Chocolate "crumbs" aren't going to kill your dog, and I think the strength of reaction here is from fear for the pets. If it were me, I'd give them another chance, with the understanding that if the kids lie about this again we're done.
Even if the crumbs aren't going to kill the dogs, the fact that chocolate was brought secretly is a problem. As the guy said in some of the replies, the younger ones may, for lack of self control, start feeding them (or, leave package of chocolate lying around so dogs might have access).
Load More Replies... Start sharing your beer with the kids and see how your sisters feel about it. Or give the kids dog biscuits.
I think dog biscuits might be healthier alternative still.
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Bro your dogs will be gone at some point. Don't destroy a relationship over your pets. I love dogs too. But sounds like you have a lot to be thankful for all around. Glad you have dogs that aren't dangerous for kids. And your sisters trust your dogs that much. My German Shepard mix ended up being a VERY dangerous dog. Still loved him but he was a killer.
It's the sister who is willing to destroy the relationship over her brats having chocolate for an afternoon. And she is the one who should be grateful to have family willing to babysit her kids. Honestly, the brother is doing her a favour and she just dumps at him, it's crappy behaviour even if you don't take the dogs into account.
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Chocolate is not poisonous for dogs. They should not eat it as a general rule and it can be harmful, but only in such large amounts it is virtually unrealistic. So bud needs to talk to his vet. If these dogs are as well behaved as he says, I would also expect that they don't steal food. So the rule should be no feeding the dogs. The rule really just sounds like an arbitrary way to exert control and it leaves the impression of someone who needs validation rather than an uncle with a genuine desire to know and spend time with his nieces and nephews while doing something nice for his siblings. If it was my brother I wouldn't want to take him up on the offer anymore after this so at least everyone would be happy with the arrangement.
I'm sorry, but your dog getting an accidental chocolate isn't a cause for alarm. Repeated exposure is a problem, and you shouldn't deliberately give dogs chocolate, but you don't need to have their stomachs pump if Spot gets at your half eaten Snickers.
He still didn't want them to bring chocolate. He deserves to have his wishes respected considering it's him doing the favor. It's don't matter what the rule is, it should be obeyed.
Load More Replies... What a crappy family. Sisters who teach their children to break rules in secret and a guy well old enough to be a husband but defines himself as "dog lover". My generation is a ridiculous generation.
Theobromine can be deadly to dogs (and cats) that's true, but it's all up to its quantity and quality. Since he said crumbs probably it wasn't even chocolate but maybe chocolate chips cookies, also kids usually only eat sweet chocolate like white chocolate (that isn't even chocolate) or milk chocolate that have a very low amount of theobromine. It's not like the slightest crumb containing the slightest amount of theobromine will hurt your dogs. They need a sizeable amount of it, so as long as they don't leave whole packs around or feed the dogs the risk is literally zero and you're making a huge deal out of nothing. Guess something happened before with other dogs and you were left with the trauma without rationalizing what and how it happened.
None of what you are talking about matters. The huge deal is they were told don't do this one thing and his sister deliberately gave her kids that thing and to sneak to have it. So the only rule he had his sister had her kids break and they helped their cousins break it too. And it turned out they always do it. If you have one rule and someone deliberately breaks it it becomes about more than just the broken rule. It is the disrespect, the lies, the hiding and the purposeful nature of it
Load More Replies... My one rules with in-laws was, "no chocolate" given to my kids. I did not want them to develop an addiction/taste for chocolate. My mother in law and sister in law, both of them overweight due to the consumption of sweets, would ignore my rule. Finally had to have a family meeting to tell them, anymore chocolate and you will never see these kids without my supervision. Unfortunately the damage was done with my daughter as she is grossly overweight, pre diabetic and a chocolate addict. She is now an adult and there is nothing I can do to help.
Sorry to admit, but strict restrictions could lead for unhealthy habits either.
Load More Replies... Kind of TA. Not going into much about the dogs and chocolate - though it would take quite a bit of chocolate to harm 2 big dogs. But if you dont want to babysit, dont babysit. The kids are 7 and 8. Sure they should be in timeout and talked to sternly about rule-breaking. I just think there is room for a one-strike rule here and a serious discussion here with the sisters AND some forgiveness. The reaction seems a little over the top. People arent perfect.
I'm going to be a little contrarian and say this is maybe a little blown out of proportion. If this is the first offense it seems pretty dramatic to say you'll never babysit again. I do think stewardship for animals is very important, but at a certain point it just comes off ridiculous. Dogs have to eat a good amount of chocolate to die and suffer from the toxic effects. Statistically only 100 or so dogs die from chocolate toxicity a year in the United States. It's pretty negligible. Educate your kids not to give chocolate to dogs, but also, let's stop blowing everything out of proportion.
Let's stop babysit kids when they and their parents can't respect rules.
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I'm a dog owner and while I think it's 100% legit to have house rules and refuse to babysit if the parents or kids don't follow them, I do think he is overly anxious if he is on "no chocolate under my roof" rule because of dogs, especially large breeds! German shepherd would need to eat like a kilo of chocolate to be in danger. So while the OP is NTA for setting his boundaries regarding house rules, his no chocolate policy itself is a bit over-reactive.
Is the policy just for kids though? We all know kids can't resist puppy dog eyes, hell I'm an adult and have a hard time with it. Still, if it's only no chocolate for kids then totally not over the top.
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Brake of trust and mutual disrespect happened, it is not " nothing"
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What an ignorant individual on all levels. First of all, the whole chocolate being deadly to dogs is 100% c**p. My dog got a box of chocolate off of the counter and ate the entire thing while I was away one day, and he was fine, no affect on him in the slightest. Second to abandon your family over some imaginary threat to your dogs just goes to prove you are a really worthless excuse for a human being who does not deserve to be involved in the lives of your family or own the poor dogs. Have dying alone and miserable all because you don't like chocolate, one of the most widely consumed and loved things on earth.
So the fact that it's his house rule doesn't matter? If the op sets a rule saying he will only babysit nazi youth then his sister has a choice. Either use a sharpie to paint little toothbrush moustaches on her children or find another babysitter. It doesn't matter what the rule is. It's the fact that it's his rule, either abide by it or figure out something else. Teaching kids to lie is wrong and considering it sounds like she needs him to sit, it's dumb as well.
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The dude overreacted. Their kids. Let them have what they want. The dude prioritized the dogs over the kids. Get over it.
As someone else on here already pointed out, the dude prioritized his dogs' LIVES over the kids' TREATS. You're honestly telling me those kids can't go without chocolate for a few hours? Also, no, don't just "let kids have what they want" all the time, that's how they wind up spoiled and entitled (case in point: the sister who just expects her bro to babysit her kids for free, breaks his one rule and puts his pets at risk, then acts indignant when he refuses to sit them again. No wonder she tells her kids to lie and doesn't expect to suffer any consequences for it). Also, just imagine if one of those kids fed the dog some chocolate and it got deathly ill, or even died. How devastated and guilty do you think that kid would feel knowing they killed a dog they obviously cared about? Something like that could haunt them for the rest of their life. Sounds to me like the OP *is* actually putting those kids first by not allowing them to risk killing an animal.
Load More Replies... STUPID PARENTS NEED TO HAVE 50 POUNDS OF CRAPPY CHOCOLATE SHOVED UP THEIR BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE!
Use your imagination. You could say poop chute, the pool slide, brown eye, the stinchter, or the ever popular balloon knot.
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I have to wonder if he liked chocolate would there still be a no chocolate rule because of the dogs? Since it is all about protecting the dogs, I assume that avocados, alcohol, onions, garlic, any drink with caffeine, grapes & raisins, dairy products, macadamia nuts, eggs, salt, sugary food & drinks, and yeast dough are all forbidden in house. After all they are all bad for his dogs and some fatally bad for them
Congratulations. You completely missed the point. The issue is NOT chocolate. The issue is CHILDREN WITH CHOCOLATE. Children tend to not be careful like adults would be. Especially the younger ones but I just read a comment on here from someone whose 11 year nephew left out a candy bar that almost killed her dog
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The only reason this guy isn't the a-hole is because his sister and the pipsqueaks lied about it for God knows how long. That's it. Depending on the size of the dog, and the fact I assume kids are not eating dark chocolate, a few milk chocolate crumbs won't do jack to even most small dog breeds. How do I know this? I was pet sitting for my parents and probably gave an emergency vet a heart attack because the dog ate a whole ten pack of reese cups and I thought I killed my brother's puppy. For milk chocolate it's like 1 Oz of chocolate per pound of dog to be truly dangerous if I remember right. As to how the dog got the reese cups, it actually wasn't my fault. I had them up high on the microwave, dog was a dachshund (weiner dog). One of the cats, and I caught him doing this the next day, knocked them down for the dog. It's not good for them so dont let them feed candy bars to fido, but a few crumbs is not going to kill them. This is an overreaction.
None of what you are talking about matters. The huge deal is they were told don't do this one thing and his sister deliberately gave her kids that thing and to sneak to have it. So the only rule he had his sister had her kids break and they helped their cousins break it too. And it turned out they always do it. If you have one rule and someone deliberately breaks it it becomes about more than just the broken rule. It is the disrespect, the lies, the hiding and the purposeful nature of it
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I also wouldn't want to babysit lying children and the parents who told them to lie.
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Luckily it's not up to you. Also whether it is really dangerous or not if your kid can't go an afternoon with out chocolate than you are not doing your job and need to start treating your kid better. The actual issue is it is an easy rule and just one rule. So why can't the sister respect it. Why would she purposely break it every time and teach her kids to lie and hide. That is a much bigger deal here. Also in response to your point it is much easier to enforce no chocolate than try to tell kids you can only bring 1 oz of chocolate. Or a reasonable amount. If he has all 10 over at once and they ignore the 1 oz rule or don't have same definition of reasonable they could easily have over a pound of chocolate there. You also dont know it is milk chocolate. As a 5 year old I only wanted dark chocolate and I'm not the only kid to ever prefer dark chocolate
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Dogs react differently. Just because yours didn't die doesn't mean everyone should experiment.
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Oh, I see, it's OP who is acting self-centered and not his sister who expects him to babysit for free, all while deliberately sneaking her kids something they could EASILY live without for a few hours and instructing them to lie to their uncle who is doing HER the generous favor. Got it 🙄👌
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The compromise was "you can eat chocolate at home but not here". If someone's babysitting for free, you don't f**k them about, end of story.
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If the children did this by themselves, you would have had a point. But it's their mother who gave them the chocolate, ignored her brother's rules and encouraged them to lie, so the problem is deeper.
Load More Replies... That's quite a confusing comment: He is right but he is also wrong?
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Chocolate is TOXIC to dogs. While it may not be fatal most of the time, it will cause suffering for the dog and a very expensive vet bill.
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This is completely out of left field, given the article, but the lying aspect brought it to mind and it’s not talked about enough and desperately NEEDS to be shared: DON’T TEACH KIDS TO LIE AND KEEP SECRETS. This is the foundation for “grooming” and cannot be tolerated until they are old enough to understand what a sexual predator is. Grandma, telling your grandchild, “it’s our little secret, don’t tell your parents” isn’t cute, it’s dangerous. You’re teaching children to do things they know their parents wouldn’t like. Creepy Joe next door will start the same way and slowly start blackmailing in a way only kids will fall for. “If you don’t pull down your pants I’ll tell your parents about all the chocolate you are.” Then, “If you don’t XYZ I’ll show them the pic of your pants pulled down”. If you wanna keep kids safe, #1 rule above all others is to have loving and clear communication and trust.
This needs to be taught.... at school maybe? I don't know where. Maybe a brochure when you deliver a baby? Not many people even think about such things. We grew up ok like this, why not our own children too? What's so bad about a little secret? You know, ignorance. Sadly, even those who do hear such things, don't take it seriously most of the time.
Load More Replies... “Putting the dogs before the kids.” No, they put the dogs in jeopardy for a snack.
Doesn’t really matter to go into discussion about chocolate - it’s about knowingly breaking a set rule and horrible parenting to teach kids to lie to trusted family members. My sister used to give my kids candy and soda they didn’t get at home (too young), and she thought it Made her the cool aunt. I bet she’d give them a beer now even though they’re a few years under legal drinking age, just for the same reason.
Yes chocolate is toxic to dogs and definitely not worth the risk but I think the biggest issue is that the mother provided her children with "secret chocolate" against the uncle's wishes. Considering it's him doing them a favour I think it's quite reasonable to ask them to go without chocolate for a short time. Small amounts of chocolate likely won't kill a dog but can make them violently ill and cause them pain so it's really not something to scoff at. It's not this guy being TAH and putting his dogs before the "niblings", it's a guy protecting part of his family and giving a basic consequence to other family members who apparently have no respect for him or his home. He's not saying the kids can't eat or have sweets at his place (as far as I can tell) but specifically no chocolate. That doesn't seem unreasonable
Those that starve the most try to eat the hand that feeds. And we can see how that turns out.
Load More Replies... Wow. What blatant disrespect both sisters and your mom have for you. It's "Your House, Your Rules." If they don't like it, they can lump it. Do NOT waiver unless there is a sit down with the siblings and the niblings. Btw, I've never heard "niblings" before but I think it's adorable. I'm guessing it's taking the N from niece/nephew and adding it to sibling. I'm in the US.
I find niblings very useful word (as you can probably tell from my name...)
Load More Replies... For a lot of us, our companion animals ARE our kids. Would the sisters blow it off if op gave the kids a snack their mothers had forbidden or maybe had an allergy to? NTA. Your family seems to think it's ok to take your generously given time for granted. This is a good opportunity to show them it's not.
Preach! This is so true! He needs to stop being free Childcare.
Load More Replies... This is way more about honesty and respect than it is about chocolate. The sister was dishonest and did not respect her sibling at all, and taught her kids to do the same. That's reason enough to stop babysitting for her.
You are never wrong for putting your dogs before somebody else's children. Also, you didn't even do that, your sister just isn't trustworthy. If the children got the chocolate without her knowledge, it would be another story, but she gave it to them, blatantly disrespecting your rules.
THIS is the key here. She knowingly broke the one agreed-upon rule, for the sake of something meaningless -- her kids eating one kind of snack over some other kind that would have been allowed. She has zero respect for you or your rules, and that cannot be tolerated.
Load More Replies... I agree with OP, but I have one point to be made. I just hope he does not unwittingly put the kids in the middle of his argument with his sister. A similar situation with my mother's relatives happened regarding me as kid and it seriously traumatized me because I thought the rift was my fault. I didn't even know the exact cause until adulthood when I visited said relatives and they jokingly told me about how they fed me sweets behind my mother's back (knowing that she would be against it) because they thought I was too thin and wanted to fatten me up. Even after all those years they still had no clue what chaos they unleashed. I was only six years old and understood NONE of what was going on. Adults need to keep in mind that children process things very differently from adults and that it needs to be explained to them that if a family conflict happens, IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT. I know the children broke the rules too but it is really their mother's fault.
It is NOT your fault and you are NOT responsible for any of they CHOSE to do! They put you in the middle and that was wrong. As a child you have no real concept of the games and mind games adults play. And they should know better and they really do but they choose to do the wrong thing so the consequences are on them but unfortunately they affect you! Don't ever let anyone tell you differently.
Load More Replies... It's not prioritizing his dogs over her kids. It's prioritizing his dogs' LIVES over her kids' TREATS.
Exactly! Those who think he is wrong to put pets before people are trivialising the risk and making it sound like children can't manage with sweets for a few hours. Good grief! Not going to hurt them to eat something else and it could harm the dogs if one puts the bar down for a moment and a dog gets it, a very real risk. What's the matter with people? It is sad that they see animals as mattering so little. There are plenty of parents who don't let their children eat sweets at all. Or snack between meals. Funny how they are perfectly okay.
Load More Replies... Iam also a dog owner of three beautiful dogs two bluenose Pit mastiff one red nose pit and I fully understand how you feel. I don't want anything to happen to them no matter if it isn't deadly. But people tend to not understand that it's our responsibility to insure their safety medically for obvious reasons. Their like my babies. I love them as they do love me. If someone put them in any way of being harmed than your not welcomed to be around them. Yes I love my family. But also I love my dogs cause their family as well. I feel your family should respect your rules while in your home. It's not different if you would allow their children in to do something that their parent forbid. I m on your side if something would happen to your dogs, you would be seeking help along with inquiring Vet bills which is unnecessary if only family would not have followed your rules in the first place. My dogs are very special to me. I Will Not allow anyone to harm them. My house My Rules
Apart from the really shitty behaviour from the sister... .........the kids cant go without chocolate even for a few hours? Why do the mum send candy at all? Was the smaller ones parents informed there was a secret candy club going on and was it OK for them to have their kids munching on regular basis?
"Hey can you babysit? Your payment is that the whole family will disregard your rules in your own home, lie to you about it, and make you out to be the bad guy if any of that is a problem for you." Hard pass. I wouldn't open my doors to any of them ever again, just go to their houses if you really want to see them. If the kids are upset about it, explain that you value honesty and respect and that you will be sticking to those boundaries. It's a good lesson for them to learn and apparently their parents aren't teaching it, so someone should.
Putting your dogs first is only a bad thing if they're your kids and too young to know. My dog or other people's kids - not even a question. And even your own kids can deal with it in certain situations and at a certain age.
Chocolate is dangerous to dogs because it can destroy their nervous system. Although a few chocolate crumbs won't make a big difference to a dogs overall health, the point is that it was a rule set down by the provider of a free service. When my son was in school, children were not allowed to share food because of potential allergy issues. My son's school eventually made a no peanut butter rule after a child ignored the no sharing policy and sent a classmate to the hospital with anaphylaxis. So the rest of the children in the school got punished for one kid ignoring the rules. If sis wants to keep ignoring it, maybe he will stop babysitting for everyone. Will her sisters back her up then?
I do completely agree with all your points but would add one thing, I have seen three year olds (and older) rashly feed their sandwich, Ice cream, snacks and sweets to dogs (some then regretted it) and I would in no way trust a three year old not to do something similar with a whole bar of chocolate. They don't have the actions = consequences thing down exactly and, oops, realise afterwards there is no chocolate anymore. Let alone what it means for the dog! I would not want the risk. This man's sister is also teaching her children some horrible lessons. Lie and do what you want, marvellous.
Load More Replies... NTA. This happened to me on Christmas one year. I took care of my 11 yo nephew who received a giant toblerone from his mom for christmas. I have 2 dogs and explained to him the dangers of chocolate for dogs. The next morning, I found one of my dogs deathly ill because he left that candy bar on the floor in his room. Imagine the cost of an emergency vet the day after Christmas. Luckily my dog survived, but I never watched that child again, and never received an apology or reimbursement from he or my sister. The vet bill was 2 thousand dollars, round the clock ivs, etc. The lying aspect of your story makes this so much worse. Kids make mistakes, but for the parent to tell the children to keep it a secret is disrespectful and out of line. What a message that parent is sending to you and to her children. Definately NTA, but your sister is.
Thank you for sharing this. The few people on here saying 'crumbs won't harm' aren''t bearing in mind how careless children can be, sadly. They aren't wrong but a child can put the chocolate down for a second and most dogs would have it before you can blink! We don't know how much chocolate they had either. Enough for the four of them, clearly. I am so very, very glad your dog is okay.
Load More Replies... No more babysitting. A very necessary rule was broken and if one of the dogs had eaten the chocolate, would the sister even care? I doubt it because bringing the chocolate shows just how little she cares about your dogs. Show her how disrespectful she was to you and tell her to get one of her sisters to babysit, or better yet drop them in grandma's lap.
They're using you as a free sitter! Trust me I've been taken advantage of lots. I too have zero kids and siblings have several. I'm 41
omg - so not the a hole! and, guess what? this man may not have bipedal children; but, he does have quadpedal kids. those pups are his kids & he has the right to make the rules for the safety of his kids. the fact that his sister covertly allowed them to have chocolate on that day means it wasn't the first w/the statement "we eat in secret". as a life long dog owner i am aware of what is dangerous for dogs. i consider myself the luckiest floofer owner in the world due to the fact i returned home and discovered my doberman had eaten approximately a half pound of godiva chocolate with zero effects. this happened while at work. immediately called vet who asked how long it had been since she had eated it. had no idea. she told me (really!) to smell her breath. nope-just doggo fumes. vet said if it wasn't recent & she showed no ill effects then to just keep an eye on her which meant i didn't sleep that night. she was fine but again i say, i am the luckiest mom
My dog got hold of a pack of chewing gum that, yes, did have ingredients that would harm him. It fell on the floor during unpacking of shopping. He is a traumatised rescue who is impossible to get things off when he wants to keep them. He spent the afternoon at the vets being made sick and I still feel awful that he went through that. Was also during a covid lockdown so I couldn't be in the vets with him and had to wait outside. I expect, like me, you are super careful with food around your beloved dogs. It is all kept out of reach normally. Happy endings, phew!!
Load More Replies... Does his idiot sisters even realize how fortunate they are to have a free babysitter on a regular basis for 10 kids. And he even moves around his work to accommodate them for the younger kids and they teach their children to lie and deceive him ? They are all awful and so is mom. Tell mom to babysit their lying daughters offspring if she's ok with all of this. Horrible adults except for the lovely brother who has been treated like dirt in his own home.
So she lied to him, ignored his rules and taught the kids how to manipulate people with lies at a very early age.. Charming.
What's more important, chocolate, or trust? OP's sister: Chocolate. Definitely chocolate.
The sister is “furious” because he won’t do free babysitting anymore? Shows how grateful she was all along…
Op could have just as easy have sold the kids in lieu of payment for services rendered. The chocolate constitutes a breach of contract. Op could then file a mechanics lien against said children and after 90 days sold them at auction. Or I maybe thinking about an oil change on a car. I forget
I have this rule, Im deadly allergic to all kinds of chocolate, I allow others to eat it if i trust them but even a crumb cause cause me to end up in the hospital, the spot will swell up and get worse, AND THATS JUST TOUCHING IT, Thank fully i have a family based on truth, I dont care if they eat it in front of me, as long as they know they cant touch me or anything i go near, meaning my house
Fair rule. Fact is, they can all go without it around you, so you are being very generous. Zero people need chocolate that much. No matter how lovely most of us find it. Hope you are always safe from the stuff.
Load More Replies... Yeah teaching kids it's ok to break rules as long as you don't get caught seems like irresponsible parenting. What's more, it shouldn't matter what the reason for the rule is, it's his house, it's a very simple rule to observe, and it's about respect.
NTA you were in your right to have rules and they choose to not follow them. End of story.
In addition to all the issues regarding the mother's lack of respect for the rules, I have to say that there is something wrong with a mother who thinks it's healthy and normal for her kids to have access to sweets ALL THE TIME. That is seriously setting them up for health issues and is borderline child abuse. They can't even go a few hours without chocolate? Hello, eating disorders are in your children's future!
Not your children, not your problem. 5hey can pay for a babysitter if they feel too entitled to regard rules and boundaries of normal people.
With Truth there is Love With Love there is Life With Life there is Humanity With Lies there is Chaos! Period. Tell your Whole Freaking Family That. Then you will see who really Loves you and who just uses & abuses. Period.
Im not even an animal person and i dont think there was an over reaction at all. How do you blantantly disrespect your brother and his home and have the nerve to be mad that there are consequences. 🙄
NTA! So we have a man who cares enough about his sisters and wants to be a part of his nieces & nephews that he's willing to give up his free time and babysit. I'm assuming for free, Like any responsible adult he does have some rules for the protection of his home and beloved dogs. We all know dogs beg and children feed, that's just what kids and dogs do! These women respond with complete disrespect for their brother, and then blame him for it. Bunch of entitled moms raising entitled children in my opinion.
NTA but your sister is. When you graciously do something for someone and you have every right to lay down rules and boundaries in your own home and on your own time, especially when you're doing a service for free. And when the receiver of those services boldly violates your rules and boundaries, which are extremely reasonable, and she lies and by proxy, gets her children to lie, which is bad parenting, you have every right to be angry and end or withhold those services and no one else has any say in the matter! You were totally disrespected and lied to and your dogs, your children, were endangered and that's just wrong and so is your mother. She's just as bad as your sister because she's enabling those behaviors and they're forgetting you are all role models for these children and you're the only one setting a good example! You need to point that out to mom and sister!
Ah yes. Let me eat peanuts around this kid with peanut allergies. Let's take a stroll through this beekeeper's hives despite you saying you are allergic. What? You want seafood for dinner even though one bite is your kryptonite? I am so glad none of these will put you in the hospital and or kill you. And I am mature enough to not tell you we are doing any of this.
It's your sisters loss not yours. Your mother and other sister have no respect of your feelings. I love my children and my dogs as well my kids would be punished if they did something to harm the dogs. Of course they never would because they also love the dogs. By the way the dogs would be punished also if they did anything bad to the kids but they have never. Your sisters children are inconsiderate and thoughtless. They don't care about you or your pets and their mother has failed to teach them to appreciate anything other than themselves. Stick to your principles your sisters need you more than you need them.
Shame on your Mother and your Sisters, they knew this was a rule set in your home for everyone to follow, but your Sister decided to teach them they don't have to respect your home or your guidance for them while their in your care. I would suggest you totally stop keeping the children until you can develop a trusting relationship with them that their Mom can't influence. And you should have a talk with your nieces and tell them since they broke the rules and have been breaking the rules for quite sometime they are not allowed to visit until they respect you, your home and the safety of your Dogs because the dogs live there too and the kids should not be creating a unsafe environment for the dogs, they should protect the dogs because the dogs would protect them.
This is coming from the little devil on my shoulder. I'm not like this but came to mind. Next time you babysit the kids, send them home with a big bag of creamy "chocolate", then watch it hit the fan.
Stop being free childcare. If they can't respect your rules, you don't have to watch their kids. They are taking advantage of you. Make them get babysitters. Your dogs are your priority.
NTA!!!!-- Your house your rules..plain and simple and your siblings who you are obviously doing a HUGE solid for by being available to babysit for should understand. Realistically I'm in Canada and I can't sent any chocolate to school in my kids lunches, friends have said that their daycares say the same thing...You are family so they should understand and abide by the rules( not crazy) of your household.
Agree with all the other comments. But... I have a small dog that is pretty well trained with food. He won't steal food or take food from anyone but myself.... Unless it's chocolate or pizza. He's been trained since he was very young and I could leave a plate of food beside me while playing on my phone and he wouldn't touch it. But with chocolate, he's devious. He once stole a piece of chocolate from a box of chocolates and I only realized it when there was nothing but smears left. He weighed about 4 lbs at the time and I was sure he was going die. The vet said that he could have eaten a whole milk chocolate bar and he'd be fine. The problem is with pure chocolate like dark chocolate and white chocolate isn't chocolate at all. So I don't worry anymore when he finds the odd chocolate chip... Regardless, if OP doesn't want chocolate in his home, it seems rather spiteful for sister to send her kids over with it.
Maybe the biggest NTA ever! Your rule is important, how would those kids feel if the dogs got sick or died because of their actions? Your entitled sisters need to realize that they are raising citizens, not emperors. This "My kids can do anything, rules don't apply to them" is ridiculous and untenable.
Ok ok ok I saw the comment asking what a nibling is and I know this one lol, it's a gender-neutral term for niece/nephew. I know this cuz I did some research when I came out to my family and this is what I asked my aunts and uncles to refer to me as 🙃
I assumed that was what it was although it sounds like it should be for siblings lol but siblings is already gender neutral so it makes sense to use it for siblings kids. Both for enbies, privacy and to save time instead of saying nieces and nephews.
Load More Replies... If the no chocolate rule is for children then what is the issue? Sounds like sister did it just so she'd have one over you and be cool to her kids. Did the other family members know her kids were feeding their kids chocolate without permission? If her kid had a not deadly reaction to peanuts would she be pissed if someone was in her house with peanuts? You betcha and bet she would have an over the top reaction as well.
You are so right in my opinion and they knew your rules and why you made them You are in the right and if they don't understand that they are in the wrong.
NTA. LW has a responsibility to see that the dogs are not harmed, and he's living up to it.
Some breeders think they are superior to others, and can abuse their trust. She f****d about and found out.
"putting the dogs over the kids" if you want to look at it like that, well of course he's doing that, all parents put their own children over their niblings.
NTA. Your rules were broken. Your dogs are your family and as far as I am concerned they have more value than your nieces and nephews. I am sick and tired of people that think human life is above all others. IT IS NOT. My own child would take precedence over my dogs or cats but no one else's children ever would. I don't care whose kids they are. they are in second place, ALWAYS. Go ahead and downvote me, it's worth it.
Ok a dog has to eat a LOT of chocolate to die from it, he's being ridiculous. i love dogs and live the same way he does.
Alteranative viewpoint. Can you just agine the reaction of the 7 and 8 year old. "Where are your doggies Uncle OP?" OP They died. "Why did they die?" OP Because they ate chocolate.
This really has nothing to do with chocolate. It is about respect. Your sisters may have been taught to fake respect to get what they want by your mother. They should apologize and ask for forgiveness from you AND the kids i.e. " I'm sorry we told you to lie to Uncle. Do not ever lie to him. We were very, very wrong." Free babysitting and they act like this? Your sisters and mom are kinda d***s.
Your dogs. Your house. Your rules. They knew the rules. They're banned. TS.
There's so much wrong here. First of all, I would be alarmed that my sister is teaching her kids that it's okay to lie to me. How can one ever trust any of them again. Secondly, I would be deeply wounded by the disrespect for me my one rule after opening my heart and home to all of them.
I'm not going to talk about the chocolate thing - but the lying thing is frightening. And yes, you are right to put your dogs lives/health over the child having a snack. I probably wouldn't have said "no more babysitting", but I would have told the sister that kids and bags will be searched for dangerous goods and any chocolate snacks found would be thrown in the bin. And stop teaching your kids to lie!
First of all, chocolate is not deadly to dogs..caffeine is! A few crumbs will not kill your dog. I agree that it was c**p for your sister to lie, but having a no chocolate rule seems a little OCD to me.
For everyone here who keeps missing the forest for the trees and insisting that "Small amounts of chocolate aren't dangerous for dogs!" and "Well MY dog ate chocolate before and he's fine," I just want to know how you'd feel if you found out your babysitter was giving your kids sips of alcohol while they were under their care, then telling the kids to keep it a secret from you. I mean, giving a child a few sips of beer now and then isn't really dangerous for them, right? It certainly won't kill them, right? And say maybe one day the babysitter accidentally sets their beer down somewhere, and the kid gets hold of it and drinks the entire thing. Nothing terrible happens to them, they just feel sick the rest of the day. But see? The kid is fine! They drank a whole beer and they're still alive, so why you so upset? You people getting all worked up about this are just overreacting! Cont...
Seriously if you *don't* see how it would be 100% justified for the parent in this little hypothetical to be horribly upset, then please never have children. Even *if* a sip or two, or even a whole can of beer wouldn't necessarily hurt a kid, you'd be insane to think it's still OK to give it to them, especially if the one doing the giving is someone you trusted then found out they've been repeatedly lying to you about it.
Load More Replies... I think this one went overboard. I know a dog that ate a bag of Hershey Kisses, foil and all. He was fine.
Talk about a family I'd never trust to dog or homesit if the OP was in need of a returned favor.
Think about it this way...you have a handgun in the house, in a locked room. You've told the kids to never go in that room. But they see their Mom give them chocolate and tell them it's okay, just don't tell Uncle Bob. So they decide it's also okay to pick the lock to see what is in the bedroom. You need to have a one-on-one with your sister to explain that she is teaching her children that lying to people is okay, that boundaries are meant to be broken, and whatever they want to do is fine. Let her know that this will come back to bite her on the a*s someday, when her kids decide she is a chump and they don't need to listen to her anymore. It's time for her to start actually, you know, PARENTING.
Children don't Need chocolate constantly! There are other safe sweets if absolutely essential or lots of healthy treats that are far more tasty. I thought this was going to be about chocolate smears everywhere! Chocolate is dangerous to dogs in large doses 😔 Lying to family is lousy and teaching the kids to lie is despicable. We also have an epidemic of obsese children with horrendous teeth, I just don't get giving them even more chocolate sneakily when the rules are strict with good cause. I assume that the kids adore the dogs so they wouldn't want to be the cause of their death?! Also what the Hell is niblings?? I'm UK, never heard of it in any way 🤷♀️
Your house your rules and you don't need to justify them, those entering your home need to accept and respect those rules or don't come over, simple as that
I refuse to watch my little sisters kid til he can use the bathroom by himself. That's because I raised her for a long time and I refuse to change diapers for ANYONE! My older sister learned that when she said she was going out for 20 mins and came back 5 hrs later. Her kid just slept the whole time so he didn't heed a changing-lucky me. He was about 1 months old at the time and this was over 10 yrs ago but she was pissed that I didn't even check him. I checked on him and kept an eye on him. Kid just slept. Then I went off on her! 20 MINUTES MY A$$!!! Then I told her that it ain't happening again or I'd be calling cps. I'm an adopted child who quite literally raised a child myself for over 6 years! (From ages 2-about 8) My adoptive mom remarried...it's my step dad's daughter that I'm referring to for this. She said my comment was uncalled for and that she needed a break and that I would "understand when you become a mother". Then I went outside and punched the rockwall so I didn't...
Continued... So I didn't knock her teeth in... If someone doesn't listen to what you have to say or what rules you place in your specific area, then screw em! Op NTA! STICK TO YOUR WAYS AND PROTECT YOUR NIBLINGS!!! <3
Load More Replies... Chocolate at our house is under screw on lids up in cabinets never leave the kitchen/LR AREA. 3 elder dogs it would be deadly.kids learn respect for other people through the respect shown by their parents. These know kids ds were taught too lie and be secretive. As they age this will be a serious trust problem. What goes around comes around
I see how much you love your charges, and don't want to abandon them, in your own mind. But just like the instructions on an airplane, you must take care of yourself first, before you can help anyone else. You also have to step up, and understand that you are a person who has value, and you must stop letting others make you feel guilty about things, and control you. It is obvious that is who you are, but you are convinced that you are just being a good friend. A good friend doesn't let others control them, they help when they can, but not at the expense of their own mental health. You must be strong, and ask you spouse to back you up, and tell your brother and SIL, that you are taking 2 weeks off, period. If you want to continue to help with childcare after that, then they must understand that you are not their hired help, but a loving and caring Aunt, and won't be treated as hired help. If you want to help with money, a college fund for your nieces is the best way to go.
Its a simple and reasonable rule just like taking off your shoes or putting the toilet seat down except this rule could actually save the life of his dogs who are a part of his family. Its really bizarre to me that they think the ability to give their kids chocolate during a short visit is more important than the health and life of his dogs. Always respect the homeowners rules regardless of your opinion (within reason). Kind of feels like they were being willfully defiant but i could be wrong.
A quick term for niece and nephew that rhymes with sibling.
Load More Replies... Yep, this is one of the reasons I keep contact with some members of my family to a minimum. People just are this entitled and self absorbed. Good thing about this, I have taught my self to value sincerity and honesty when choosing my friends and romantic partners.
Same as if kids don't have an allergy but dad does, to something like peanuts and you send them home with peanuts. My sis is peanut sensitive and could smell the small amount in a bag of trail mix in my backpack. His sis fked around and found out her own boundary overstep cost losing free babysitting.
Isnt it so adorable?!? Also way faster than typing out nieces and nephews.
Load More Replies... I'm an Aunt, 39, never married and no children and have chosen not to have any either. I watch my sister's and cousin's kids often. I mention this because we might have common ground. You might have seen or heard of it before, how one lightning can strike a tree and burn down a forest? It seems to me you have the upper hand here. NTA, strike where you please but watch your trees.
Now, chocolate is really not thát toxic for dogs it's bad, but the dog needs to eat a lot to he deadly. Either way, a rule is a rule and the kids should have followed it.
NTA. But. Chocolate "crumbs" aren't going to kill your dog, and I think the strength of reaction here is from fear for the pets. If it were me, I'd give them another chance, with the understanding that if the kids lie about this again we're done.
Even if the crumbs aren't going to kill the dogs, the fact that chocolate was brought secretly is a problem. As the guy said in some of the replies, the younger ones may, for lack of self control, start feeding them (or, leave package of chocolate lying around so dogs might have access).
Load More Replies... Start sharing your beer with the kids and see how your sisters feel about it. Or give the kids dog biscuits.
I think dog biscuits might be healthier alternative still.
Load More Replies... Bro your dogs will be gone at some point. Don't destroy a relationship over your pets. I love dogs too. But sounds like you have a lot to be thankful for all around. Glad you have dogs that aren't dangerous for kids. And your sisters trust your dogs that much. My German Shepard mix ended up being a VERY dangerous dog. Still loved him but he was a killer.
It's the sister who is willing to destroy the relationship over her brats having chocolate for an afternoon. And she is the one who should be grateful to have family willing to babysit her kids. Honestly, the brother is doing her a favour and she just dumps at him, it's crappy behaviour even if you don't take the dogs into account.
Load More Replies... Chocolate is not poisonous for dogs. They should not eat it as a general rule and it can be harmful, but only in such large amounts it is virtually unrealistic. So bud needs to talk to his vet. If these dogs are as well behaved as he says, I would also expect that they don't steal food. So the rule should be no feeding the dogs. The rule really just sounds like an arbitrary way to exert control and it leaves the impression of someone who needs validation rather than an uncle with a genuine desire to know and spend time with his nieces and nephews while doing something nice for his siblings. If it was my brother I wouldn't want to take him up on the offer anymore after this so at least everyone would be happy with the arrangement.
I'm sorry, but your dog getting an accidental chocolate isn't a cause for alarm. Repeated exposure is a problem, and you shouldn't deliberately give dogs chocolate, but you don't need to have their stomachs pump if Spot gets at your half eaten Snickers.
He still didn't want them to bring chocolate. He deserves to have his wishes respected considering it's him doing the favor. It's don't matter what the rule is, it should be obeyed.
Load More Replies... What a crappy family. Sisters who teach their children to break rules in secret and a guy well old enough to be a husband but defines himself as "dog lover". My generation is a ridiculous generation.
Theobromine can be deadly to dogs (and cats) that's true, but it's all up to its quantity and quality. Since he said crumbs probably it wasn't even chocolate but maybe chocolate chips cookies, also kids usually only eat sweet chocolate like white chocolate (that isn't even chocolate) or milk chocolate that have a very low amount of theobromine. It's not like the slightest crumb containing the slightest amount of theobromine will hurt your dogs. They need a sizeable amount of it, so as long as they don't leave whole packs around or feed the dogs the risk is literally zero and you're making a huge deal out of nothing. Guess something happened before with other dogs and you were left with the trauma without rationalizing what and how it happened.
None of what you are talking about matters. The huge deal is they were told don't do this one thing and his sister deliberately gave her kids that thing and to sneak to have it. So the only rule he had his sister had her kids break and they helped their cousins break it too. And it turned out they always do it. If you have one rule and someone deliberately breaks it it becomes about more than just the broken rule. It is the disrespect, the lies, the hiding and the purposeful nature of it
Load More Replies... My one rules with in-laws was, "no chocolate" given to my kids. I did not want them to develop an addiction/taste for chocolate. My mother in law and sister in law, both of them overweight due to the consumption of sweets, would ignore my rule. Finally had to have a family meeting to tell them, anymore chocolate and you will never see these kids without my supervision. Unfortunately the damage was done with my daughter as she is grossly overweight, pre diabetic and a chocolate addict. She is now an adult and there is nothing I can do to help.
Sorry to admit, but strict restrictions could lead for unhealthy habits either.
Load More Replies... Kind of TA. Not going into much about the dogs and chocolate - though it would take quite a bit of chocolate to harm 2 big dogs. But if you dont want to babysit, dont babysit. The kids are 7 and 8. Sure they should be in timeout and talked to sternly about rule-breaking. I just think there is room for a one-strike rule here and a serious discussion here with the sisters AND some forgiveness. The reaction seems a little over the top. People arent perfect.
I'm going to be a little contrarian and say this is maybe a little blown out of proportion. If this is the first offense it seems pretty dramatic to say you'll never babysit again. I do think stewardship for animals is very important, but at a certain point it just comes off ridiculous. Dogs have to eat a good amount of chocolate to die and suffer from the toxic effects. Statistically only 100 or so dogs die from chocolate toxicity a year in the United States. It's pretty negligible. Educate your kids not to give chocolate to dogs, but also, let's stop blowing everything out of proportion.
Let's stop babysit kids when they and their parents can't respect rules.
Load More Replies... I'm a dog owner and while I think it's 100% legit to have house rules and refuse to babysit if the parents or kids don't follow them, I do think he is overly anxious if he is on "no chocolate under my roof" rule because of dogs, especially large breeds! German shepherd would need to eat like a kilo of chocolate to be in danger. So while the OP is NTA for setting his boundaries regarding house rules, his no chocolate policy itself is a bit over-reactive.
Is the policy just for kids though? We all know kids can't resist puppy dog eyes, hell I'm an adult and have a hard time with it. Still, if it's only no chocolate for kids then totally not over the top.
Load More Replies... Brake of trust and mutual disrespect happened, it is not " nothing"
Load More Replies... What an ignorant individual on all levels. First of all, the whole chocolate being deadly to dogs is 100% c**p. My dog got a box of chocolate off of the counter and ate the entire thing while I was away one day, and he was fine, no affect on him in the slightest. Second to abandon your family over some imaginary threat to your dogs just goes to prove you are a really worthless excuse for a human being who does not deserve to be involved in the lives of your family or own the poor dogs. Have dying alone and miserable all because you don't like chocolate, one of the most widely consumed and loved things on earth.
So the fact that it's his house rule doesn't matter? If the op sets a rule saying he will only babysit nazi youth then his sister has a choice. Either use a sharpie to paint little toothbrush moustaches on her children or find another babysitter. It doesn't matter what the rule is. It's the fact that it's his rule, either abide by it or figure out something else. Teaching kids to lie is wrong and considering it sounds like she needs him to sit, it's dumb as well.
Load More Replies... The dude overreacted. Their kids. Let them have what they want. The dude prioritized the dogs over the kids. Get over it.
As someone else on here already pointed out, the dude prioritized his dogs' LIVES over the kids' TREATS. You're honestly telling me those kids can't go without chocolate for a few hours? Also, no, don't just "let kids have what they want" all the time, that's how they wind up spoiled and entitled (case in point: the sister who just expects her bro to babysit her kids for free, breaks his one rule and puts his pets at risk, then acts indignant when he refuses to sit them again. No wonder she tells her kids to lie and doesn't expect to suffer any consequences for it). Also, just imagine if one of those kids fed the dog some chocolate and it got deathly ill, or even died. How devastated and guilty do you think that kid would feel knowing they killed a dog they obviously cared about? Something like that could haunt them for the rest of their life. Sounds to me like the OP *is* actually putting those kids first by not allowing them to risk killing an animal.
Load More Replies... STUPID PARENTS NEED TO HAVE 50 POUNDS OF CRAPPY CHOCOLATE SHOVED UP THEIR BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE! BUT THOLE!
Use your imagination. You could say poop chute, the pool slide, brown eye, the stinchter, or the ever popular balloon knot.
Load More Replies... I have to wonder if he liked chocolate would there still be a no chocolate rule because of the dogs? Since it is all about protecting the dogs, I assume that avocados, alcohol, onions, garlic, any drink with caffeine, grapes & raisins, dairy products, macadamia nuts, eggs, salt, sugary food & drinks, and yeast dough are all forbidden in house. After all they are all bad for his dogs and some fatally bad for them
Congratulations. You completely missed the point. The issue is NOT chocolate. The issue is CHILDREN WITH CHOCOLATE. Children tend to not be careful like adults would be. Especially the younger ones but I just read a comment on here from someone whose 11 year nephew left out a candy bar that almost killed her dog
Load More Replies... The only reason this guy isn't the a-hole is because his sister and the pipsqueaks lied about it for God knows how long. That's it. Depending on the size of the dog, and the fact I assume kids are not eating dark chocolate, a few milk chocolate crumbs won't do jack to even most small dog breeds. How do I know this? I was pet sitting for my parents and probably gave an emergency vet a heart attack because the dog ate a whole ten pack of reese cups and I thought I killed my brother's puppy. For milk chocolate it's like 1 Oz of chocolate per pound of dog to be truly dangerous if I remember right. As to how the dog got the reese cups, it actually wasn't my fault. I had them up high on the microwave, dog was a dachshund (weiner dog). One of the cats, and I caught him doing this the next day, knocked them down for the dog. It's not good for them so dont let them feed candy bars to fido, but a few crumbs is not going to kill them. This is an overreaction.
None of what you are talking about matters. The huge deal is they were told don't do this one thing and his sister deliberately gave her kids that thing and to sneak to have it. So the only rule he had his sister had her kids break and they helped their cousins break it too. And it turned out they always do it. If you have one rule and someone deliberately breaks it it becomes about more than just the broken rule. It is the disrespect, the lies, the hiding and the purposeful nature of it
Load More Replies... I also wouldn't want to babysit lying children and the parents who told them to lie.
Load More Replies... Luckily it's not up to you. Also whether it is really dangerous or not if your kid can't go an afternoon with out chocolate than you are not doing your job and need to start treating your kid better. The actual issue is it is an easy rule and just one rule. So why can't the sister respect it. Why would she purposely break it every time and teach her kids to lie and hide. That is a much bigger deal here. Also in response to your point it is much easier to enforce no chocolate than try to tell kids you can only bring 1 oz of chocolate. Or a reasonable amount. If he has all 10 over at once and they ignore the 1 oz rule or don't have same definition of reasonable they could easily have over a pound of chocolate there. You also dont know it is milk chocolate. As a 5 year old I only wanted dark chocolate and I'm not the only kid to ever prefer dark chocolate
Load More Replies... Dogs react differently. Just because yours didn't die doesn't mean everyone should experiment.
Load More Replies... Oh, I see, it's OP who is acting self-centered and not his sister who expects him to babysit for free, all while deliberately sneaking her kids something they could EASILY live without for a few hours and instructing them to lie to their uncle who is doing HER the generous favor. Got it 🙄👌
Load More Replies... The compromise was "you can eat chocolate at home but not here". If someone's babysitting for free, you don't f**k them about, end of story.
Load More Replies... If the children did this by themselves, you would have had a point. But it's their mother who gave them the chocolate, ignored her brother's rules and encouraged them to lie, so the problem is deeper.
Load More Replies... That's quite a confusing comment: He is right but he is also wrong?
Load More Replies... Chocolate is TOXIC to dogs. While it may not be fatal most of the time, it will cause suffering for the dog and a very expensive vet bill.
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