I am NOT OOP, OOP is u/AlterOfEve
Originally posted to r/CharlotteDobreYouTube
Aunt Of Nephew I’m Babysitting Shames Me For Not Speaking Their First Language
Editor's note: made small edits for ease of readability
Thanks to u/queenlegolas for suggesting this BoRU
Trigger Warnings: verbal abuse, possible xenophobia
Original Post: April 22, 2025
Okay, people of Reddit! I have officially encountered someone that I wonder how they are not embarrassed by their actions! Names are fake.
I have been babysitting this boy, Daniel, for about twice a week for about six or seven hours a day. His mom stays at home and I’m there to keep her son entertained as she cleans or gets to rest for a bit.
Now this family is wonderful. The mother and father treat me like a family member and it’s amazing. Now, I usually arrive at their house after the mom, Maria, calls her family/in-laws. I arrive later in the morning and Maria usually wakes up early to call them because of time difference.
This time, however, Maria gives me her phone, with her mother and father on the other side. She leaves to do work downstairs and Daniel is being entertained by his grandmother and grandfather. I sit beside Daniel, watching over him, and just not butting in.
That phone call goes smoothly. It’s the next phone call that makes me irritated. Maria’s sister, Tiffany, calls. I answer and basically do the same thing. Don’t talk and just watch over Daniel.
Then, out of the blue, she starts talking to me. I’m like, ‘oh, she maybe wants to speak to me because I’m the babysitter’.
I introduce myself and so does she. Daniel starts to fuss and I start to hold him. Now, Maria’s family is bilingual. They speak English and Spanish, so Daniel says some things in Spanish and some things in English.
I know very little Spanish. Best I can do is count to ten. Since babysitting Daniel, I’ve picked up some Spanish but not a lot as I don’t have good memory and don’t practice it outside of their house as nobody in my family speaks Spanish.
Anyway, Tiffany asks if I know any Spanish. I tell her the truth. That I barely know any but I’m starting to pick up some words.
She responds with a laugh and says I will learn Spanish as I go. Which I thought were words of encouragement. Like she was just trying to be helpful. I mean, it wouldn’t be bad if I picked up even a little Spanish. But what’s crazy is the remarks she kept making about me on how I couldn’t speak Spanish.
She was very condescending and spoke to me as if I was lesser than her. She kept speaking to Daniel in Spanish. Which, I don’t care, but it’s the way my name kept popping up when she was speaking to him that didn’t sit right with me. I just knew she was talking crap about me.
Or that’s what my gut feeling said, anyway. Could be wrong, but it felt like she was talking crap about me. Been bullied enough times to know when someone’s talking crap about me even if they’re speaking another language lol.
Anyway, after about an hour of her continuous comments about how I couldn’t speak Spanish and her talking to Daniel, she had to go. When she asked for kisses from Daniel, I feel like I won.
You know why? He started to give kisses to me instead of her. I will let everyone know this. I do kinda have anger issues. I’ve been working on them and I’m proud to say I’m getting better at controlling my anger and I haven’t lashed out at anybody in a year. So when Daniel started to kiss my cheek, even with his aunt trying to tell him ‘no, kiss me, kiss the screen, blow me a kiss’, all the anger that was was simmering and starting to boil vanished. It evaporated.
When she hung up I felt overjoyed. And, honestly, I wish I could’ve given Daniel a medal. He wouldn’t have understood why, of course, but he was a true hero in that scenario.
I honestly thought about telling Maria about what Tiffany was saying to me, but I didn’t. Her family arrives in about two days and I didn’t want to start any drama. I mean, I’m probably never going to see or speak to Tiffany again. And if I do, it’ll be through a phone and only for maybe an hour.
I did the right thing, right? Honestly, the petty in me is saying to tell Maria. But my logic is saying it’s unnecessary. So I’m being good by not telling her, right? I shouldn’t potentially create drama for a little thing like this. Plus, I Daniel got revenge for me lol.
Anyway, thank you for letting me vent this story to you all! Hope you found joy in it!
Relevant / Top Comments
Commenter 1: You'd better tell her. The aunt did talk about you, in Spanish, to a child. Just explain that it makes you uncomfortable and that you've already had a bad experience like this and that you don't want it to happen again or you'll no longer be able to look after a little boy who adores you. Think about him too, he shouldn't be exposed to this kind of behavior and think it's normal. He may have kissed you now, but let's not forget that a young child can be impressionable.
OOP: Omg you’re so right. I didn’t even think about that! Thank you!
Commenter 2: Or ask your boss if she would like you to learn more Spanish. Let her know that the aunt was speaking Spanish for about an hour to Daniel, but you couldn't understand much more than your name, which she mentioned several times, and that you suspect by the tone that it might not have been very nice.
OOP: My boss only said I needed to learn few words to understand her son. Like ‘shoes’, ‘help’, ‘water’, etc in Spanish. I don’t need to learn Spanish, it was never a requirement. So, yeah, I’ll tell my boss. I didn’t want to cause an argument, since she’s coming so soon, but she probably will get worse once she gets here.
Commenter 3: Whatever she was saying to Daniel made him love you even more! She was no doubt belittling you and/or telling him not to like you. He knows you and knew what she was saying was very wrong. Even a baby can pick up on bad vibes.
OOP: That’s very true!
Commenter 4: I think you should tell your boss and tell her that you feel uncomfortable with the situation and maybe the sister can call, when she is around and not you.
And tell her that the sister kept talking about you in Spanish and you don’t feel well with the situation.
They hired you as a babysitter, they should not let their relatives bother you.
Update: April 24, 2025 (two days later)
So, hey guys, here with an update. And I got Tiffany in trouble.
Okay, so here’s the tea. I babysat early in the morning again. And Maria had called Tiffany. Maria went downstairs and Tiffany had… started acting out. Again. So, what did I do this time? Well, heh, I might have started screen recording on Maria’s phone…
I thought over the comments the night before I was babysitting again but I decided not to tell Maria unless I had evidence. I mean, they’re family. I also don’t want to lose Maria’s trust by saying Tiffany did something and then Tiffany saying she didn’t and me being let go of the job.
Anyway, after recording and Tiffany hanging up, I start playing with Daniel until he goes downstairs for his nap. Maria and I are alone watching Daniel from the baby monitor as we start making some food.
This is where I drop the bomb. I tell her what Tiffany has been doing. Now, I don’t know much Spanish. So I don’t know what Tiffany had been saying about me. But judging by Maria’s expression as she watched an hours worth of Tiffany being on the phone, I can tell it’s kinda bad.
Maria apologized to me, which I told her she didn’t have to because it wasn’t her fault, but she was insistent on apologizing because, in her words, ‘Tiffany is family. And she shouldn’t have said that to you’.
Anyway, after that, she started calling people. Probably family, as she was speaking fast in Spanish. She sounded upset, rightfully so. She had called multiple people while I watched Daniel on the baby monitor.
I also saw that Tiffany had tried calling Maria a few times only to be ignored.
Tiffany and the rest of Maria’s family will be visiting in like one or two days… so I hope I didn’t start any major conflict but Maria definitely needed to know.
If I find out anything else I’ll update ya’ll!
Relevant / Top Comments
Commenter 1: Updates when you can please. Also, make sure to record her again cuz you just know she’s gonna go after you when she gets a chance.
OOP: Will do. I will definitely record her again. She’s coming soon as well, which makes me more nervous. I know I won’t likely run into her, but I can’t shake the feeling I will.
Commenter 2: Yay for the win!
Auntie is SOO wrong in many ways, but please take some knowledge from an EAL professional:
Having a NATIVE English L1 speaker spending a good amount of quality time with their bilingual child will only do wonders for his understanding and development of English.
He already has lots of family in his life to teach him their perfect LI Spanish.
I would not be surprised to hear that his parent chose an LI English speaker specifically for that purpose.
Bilingual people recognise the value in immersion in L1 language use to further deepen understanding.
For anyone who doesn't understand:
Don't try to communicate with a child in your flawed L2, if the child is bilingual. It will hamper their development of that language.
I hope you have lots of fun working with that little delight and continue to enjoy working for his parents.
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