Dad procrastinates taking his 3, 5, and 8-year-old kids to the park, tries to get his 40-week pregnant wife to bring them to the pool with their neighbor: 'I said no'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Jun 10, 2025 8:00 PM EDT

We live in an age of child supervision, whether you like it or not. Long gone are the days when parents tell their kids to go outside at 10 AM and they don't come back home until the sun goes down. Something about the crime-conscious culture of the 80s and 90s made it so parents don't feel comfortable letting their kids outside of the house unsupervised, and so often, they just don't leave the house. 

There are definitely ages and places when/where a kid can play without supervision. If they're over 8, they can probably play in the neighborhood without mom or dad watching every move they make. But if they're under eight and at a swimming pool, forget about it. That's one of those activities that needs constant supervision. It's a significant burden to expect a non-parental adult to watch them while they're swimming to ensure their safety.

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • 01

    AITA for not letting my neighbor take my children swimming?

    I have 3 children between ages 3- 8. Today my husband was supposed to take them to the park but he procrastinated and now it's too late because he has to leave out to an event. Our sweet next door neighbor ended up messaging us to see if the kids could join her child at the pool
    via u/not_in_the_mooooood

  • The dad in this story could have done the easy thing and taken his three young kids to the park to play. Instead, he tried to let his neighbor and wife take the fall for facilitating a fun activity, and blamed his extremely pregnant wife when she refused. 

  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10516104448
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 03
    (our children enjoy playing together). My husband thinks this is a great idea since they were excited to go to the park but are no longer going. He told the children about this exiting new option to go swimming instead before bringing it to me. But I said no. I am 40 weeks pregnant,
    via u/not_in_the_mooooood
  • 04
    Cheezburger Image 10516114176
    via Michael Anfang

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 05
    exhausted and it's much too hot for ME to go and sit at the pool w/ my children right now (which is why dad was supposed to do the park w/ them). I am sure my neighbor would not mind me sending them out by themselves because again she is so kind and sweet and I don't think for one second that they will be unsafe with her. Sending THREE children
    via u/not_in_the_mooooood
  • 06
    w/ this lady to the pool all by herself on top of her own child is selfish in my opinion. I would also be the parent dealing with the aftermath of swimming like hair and baths etc. My husband thinks it's not fair to the kids because they now have to "be stuck in the house all day with nothing to do".
    via u/not_in_the_mooooood
  • 07
    They have plenty of toys, board games and a whole backyard to play in, as well as each other. They will be fine and again, had he moved faster then they would have been able to stick to the original plan and been back from the park by now. In his opinion
    via u/not_in_the_mooooood
  • 08
    Cheezburger Image 10516114688
    via SJ Objio (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 09
    there is no difference in sending them to the pool without me since I wasn't going to be joining them at the park. Now the children are upset and I look like the bad guy because I won't let them go to the pool.
    via u/not_in_the_mooooood
  • 10
    SoMuch MoreEagle NTA Of course your husband thinks them going to the pool is a great idea: he doesn't have to do anything.
    via u/SoMuchMoreEagle
  • 11
    Sure-fine-whatev This post makes me wonder if the husband ever does anything but impregnate her.
    via u/Sure-fine-whatev
  • 12
    Un_Real They wouldn't have been stuck inside all day if he had gotten his sh together and taken his kids to the park as planned.
    via u/Un__Real
  • 13
    DrMamaBear NTA well isn't he a peach expecting you and another woman to just pick up the slack. Why isn't he taking all 4 kids to the pool?!
    via u/DrMamaBear
  • 14
    CaRiSsA504 And OP is 40 weeks pregnant... with her 4th child? Dayam, if she went into labor, she could have this kid before the older 3 were all out of the pool. H_I, with her husband leaving the house, the older one might end up delivering this baby before he gets home.
    via u/CaRiSsA504
  • 15
    Disastrous-Assist-90 NTA my children were not allowed to go anywhere near a body of water with anyone but myself until they were on swim teams. Your husband threw you under the bus twice. What an a hole this guy...
    via u/Disastrous-Assist-90
  • 16
    jahubb062 Yup. I got a lot of sh from my SMIL when my kids were preschool age and I said my kids couldn't go to or in the pool without me, my husband or a certified swim instructor. And now that my kids are older, and I've seen how other people "watch" their kids at the pool, I feel completely comfortable with having set that rule.
    via u/jahubb062
  • 17
    IDGAF how mad she was over it. I've witnessed a grandmother leave young kids alone in a pool (without a lifeguard) while she went to the bathroom. I've seen other parents "watching" their kids while getting dr_nk with other parents, and no one actually has eyes on the kids most of the time. The margin for error is so small with water activities.
    via u/jahubb062
  • 18
    baffled_soap The neighbor thinks she can easily ramp up from watching one child to watching four children. What that means to me is that she either has no idea what she's in for (like maybe her kid is older, a good listener & a good swimmer, so she's not thinking about how younger children running in
    via u/baffled_soap
  • 19
    different directions are going to be), or that she doesn't watch her child closely at the pool (so "watching" three more would consist of getting them to & from the pool & then letting the lifeguards do the rest). Neither one is a situation I'd feel comfortable with.
    via u/baffled_soap
  • 20
    nsparadise I'm not sure that's a fair assumption. For all we know she has a ton of experience with these kinds of scenarios. Maybe she was a lifeguard at summer camps. Maybe she has 6 younger siblings. Maybe a thousand other scenarios. OP stated that safety is not the issue.
    via u/nsparadise
  • 21
    Endsln-ing At 40 weeks pregnant, and him giving you grief about how you'll manage your three other kids while he goes to an 'event' ... Come on. NTA Tell you kids they can go when Dad takes them, and he can choose his event or the promise he made to his kids. You can stay out of it and relax.
    via u/Endsln-ing
  • 22
    Glittering Joke3438 What the h I kind of event does your husband have to go to when you're 40 weeks with three small children?
    via u/Glittering_Joke3438
  • 23
    not_in_the_mooooood OP its a fathers day event that we had paid for in advance thinking baby would have been here lol
    via u/not_in_the_mooooood
  • 24
    International-Bad-84 Too bad he'll have to miss it now, since he volunteered to take the kids to the pool.
    via u/International-Bad-84
  • 25
    fancyandfab Why is your husband going to a father's day event without his wife and kids?
    via u/fancyandfab
  • 26
    not_in_the_mooooood OP its an event for men and since there hasn't been any baby action, we discussed that it should be fine for him to go for a couple of hours.
    via u/not_in_the_mooooood
  • 27
    Meghanshadow ...What kind of father's day event is for men who want to be away from their kids? I mean, sure, every parent wants to be away from their kids sometimes, or a lot of the time. But not usually at an event to celebrate that they are a parent.
    via u/Meghanshadow
  • 28
    "What are you doing for Parent Day?" “I'm celebrating being a parent! Good food, having fun, entertainment." "Cool, I hope you and your kids have fun!" "Kids? Why would I want to spend time with my kids for Parents Day?"
    via u/Meghanshadow
  • 29
    Feeling-Visit1472 Do you realize how absurd all of that sounds? Nothing to do with you or baby, this is utterly ridiculous. He neglected his children and felt just fine about letting them down for absolutely no reason, all to ditch them so that he could attend a child-free "Father's Day" event?
    via u/Feeling-Visit1472

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

neighbors pregnancy kids procrastination bad parenting park pool bad parents parenting swimming pool dad pregnant Parenting Fail children Father neighbor
Scroll Down For The Next Article