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Father Demands Babysitter To Cough Up $2,200 To Replace Guitar Which His Child Broke

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    Font - AITA for asking for compensation for something my kid destroyed? We hired a babysitter we've had a few times at a good rate of $20/hr since it was only for 3 hours in our home. The babysitter is a 19 year old woman if it matters, I think maybe the age will affect something.

    Reddit user u/RoughJury hired a babysitter to watch his 3-year-old. When he and his wife returned home, they found that their child had broken one of his guitars. Given that he believes it is the babysitter's job to ensure the child doesn't do anything wrong, he expects her to pay for the damage. Now he is asking Reddit if he is the 'a-hole' for demanding his babysitter to cough up the $2,200 to repair his guitar.

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  • 2
    Font - My wife had to rush to work in an emergency and I was already at work. The babysitter is already familiar with some of our rules, like our 3y/o is only allowed in the living room, play room, and dining room (when eating).

    It seems there are very strict rules about where the baby is allowed to play. This kind of makes you curious ow the baby was even allowed to get into those rooms? Ever heard of baby-proofing your house?

  • 3
    Font - The babysitter I guess had an emergency herself and had to be on the phone for 20 minutes. For some reason, she decided to take the call outside, her rationale was it was private and didn't want our child to listen in.
  • 4
    Font - In those 20 minutes, our daughter was able to move the couch to the living room gate, scale the gate, head into the basement, and pull one of my guitars off the wall. The neck is all warped and my luthier said the neck needs to be replaced.
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  • 5
    Font - I'm asking the babysitter to front the bill on a new guitar, not a repair or neck replacement, as the alternatives diminish the value of the guitar (mismatching neck-to-body severely impacts value, and a neck repair does too). It's $2,200.
  • 6
    Font - Am I the a**hole here? Or is she? Her parents are telling us we're responsible, she's offering only to have babysat for free, our friends are saying we're too harsh, but it was her responsibility, right?
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    Not surprisingly, Redditors were not supportive

    Font - Quirky_Bumblebee_461 14.1k points 7 day ago YTA. Your valuables should be insured and locked up. Your baby gate should be secured. You are responsible for buying a couch that a literal baby can move (what kind of a couch is that??). You are responsible for interviewing, hiring, and training your employee. You are responsible for your minor child's actions. The baby sitter is partially to blame, sure, but you also share a large portion of the blame. The babysitter would be responsible for
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  • 8
    Font - skadisilverfoot 704 points 7 day ago YTA. Yeah, how in the actual f*** can a 3 year old move a couch, go down a stair to a basement without falling, and pull a guitar off a wall and magically "warp" the neck instead of breaking something? Generally, when guitars are on a wall hanger, they are higher on the wall than a 3 year old toddler can ever reach, let alone the rest of the fantasy described here.
  • 9
    Rectangle - NomadicusRex 521 points 7 day ago Don't forget that basements tend to be damp and high humidity, and also that humidity changes are not the friend of musical instruments. I wouldn't be surprised in the least that his other guitars are starting to show damage as well.
  • 10
    Font - Popular_Extension 381 points 7 day ago Also how does a 3 year old cause warping? I mean I can see a child causing a crack or something, but warping? Am I wrong to think that it was warped prior to the child getting their hands on it due to how it was stored? My boyfriend has a bass collection and he is hyper about properly storing them to avoid warping the necks.
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  • 11
    Font - compound515 146 points 7 day ago I don't know really, I'd be pi**** if I found out that my babysitter had stepped outside and left my 3yo by themselves for 20 min. If that kid rolled down the basement stairs and broke a bone or suffered a head injury, would the sitter not be responsible for that. OP left specific instructions and the sitter should have either taken the call while watching the kid or called the parents and let them know she had an emergency and had to leave. While I don't
  • 12
    Font - lorelorelei 4.4k points 7 day ago I think this situation is reason for you to stop hiring her as your babysitter, but asking a 19-year-old to pay you $2,200 for something that was ultimately destroyed by your child is too much. She failed in her duty to supervise your child, so you're justified in not hiring her again, but other than that, how can you possibly expect her to pay you all that? It's just unreasonable, as is the fact that you're not asking her to repair your guitar, you're as
  • 13
    Font - silverbrewer07 1.9k points 7 day ago I'm not sure the babysitter should have left the kid alone but YTA s*** happens she wouldn't be babysitting for you if she had that kind of cash laying around. I would be more p***** the kid was able to get to the basement and move a couch. More importantly is your kid a body builder moving a couch is a feat.

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