"AITA for having my friend's toddler take her first steps?"
So I'm friends with this guy that I've known since kindergarten. He got married some years ago and now him and his wife have a little baby girl and she's currently at toddler age. I come over often enough that I'm used to seeing the little bugger and she's great. I don't have any other little kids from family or anything in my life so it's been great seeing a little human grow.
Every once in a blue moon they ask me to watch her for a few hours while my friend and his wife get some date time or whatever they need to do. So I was hanging out with her and I know that they've been trying to get her to take her first steps. I read about a trick where if you make them hold something then they will walk without holding onto a surface. So I gave her a toy and filmed it and it worked!
I sent the video to them and my friend didn't care, he was just happy, but his wife was pissed! She was mad at me that they weren't there for that big moment. I don't have the type of relationship with her where I can have a deep 1 on 1 with her. I talked to my friend about it and he's not upset with me, but his wife still is.
She thinks I robbed her of a key moment. I did get it on film, but I get what she's saying. I had no malicious intent, but was I the AH for getting the toddler to take those first steps? I honestly didn't think the trick would work but it did.
Here's what people had to say to OP:
Beautiful-Cup4161 said:
Note to everyone: if someone else's kid has a "first" something in your care, they didn't. You take that information to your grave.
keesouth said:
YTA for doing it on purpose and then sending them video. Kids often have their first steps when they are in daycare and the teachers purposely don't tell the parents so when they finally see their kid walk they think it's the first time. You purposely took that moment from them.
Wrought-Irony said:
Soft YTA. I have a kid and I know a lot of people in early childcare. What they do is if the kid takes their first steps during the day, when the parents pick them up they say "Wow little so-and-so is ready to walk I can tell!
You should give them something to hold and try to get them to come to you!" then the next day the parents come in all happy and proud cause it worked and they got to see the kid take their "first" steps. No one is hurt and it's kind of a big deal for some people.
Lithogiraffe said:
YTA. Even I know that you're supposed to lie to high heavens in these situations when a kid is doing their first and their parents missed it. You've made an enemy for life.
Heavy-Equipment8389 said:
YTA. Not for making the baby take the first steps, but for taking a video and then sending it. If you hadn't done that, but kept silent and given the advice that you heard (and tested) the parents could have enjoyed the first steps moment themselves.
Menacing_Intentions said:
YTA. 100000%. You deliberately tried to make a toddler walk who hasn't done so previously without the parents there.
cinnamonoblivion said:
I think YTA. Walking is a big milestone for toddlers and it’s usually a big deal for the parents to get to see it and experience it, and I find it hard to believe you don’t know that. You may have thought the trick wouldn’t work, but you were still deliberately trying to get the kid to walk when her parents weren’t there to see her take her first steps.