'My friend is demanding I look after her 19-month-old for four days for bonkers excuse'

A woman has been left stunned by her friend’s “audacious” request to look after her 19-month-old baby for four days and three nights in October while she and her husband go off on a work trip together. As the woman felt put on the spot by her friend, she “ended up agreeing” but “really, really” didn’t want to do it.

Logistically, it wouldn’t be feasible since the toddler is in nursery from 10am until 4pm while the woman’s work day, including her commute, is 8am until 6pm, meaning she’d have to take annual leave in order to provide childcare for her friend.

Her friend “has a way of bulldozing people into doing things for them” and as a self-described “people pleaser”, the woman sought advice on how to back out a few days after she initially agreed.

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She took to Mumsnet, where aghast users of the hit parenting platform helped her formulate a message to send.

The woman texted her friend saying: “Hi X, really sorry you caught me on the hop earlier. Having now looked at my diary and my work schedule I’m afraid it’s not going to be possible for me to have Y whilst you are away.”

The “cheeky f***er” friend “read the message straight away” but didn’t reply for a day, when she said: “Oh no hun, what am I supposed to do now? It’s really short notice for me to find someone else. DC [dear child] is really no trouble at all. You’d really be helping us out. Please!!”

But the woman stood firm. She responded: “It’s really nice that you would trust me, however I can’t do this. You caught me on the hop and I felt obliged to say yes, however now I’ve had time to think about it this is not something I can commit to. I hope you get something sorted.”

Her friend read the message but didn’t reply, instead choosing to post a quote on social media which read “it’s time to distance yourself from the people who let you down, the inconsistent ones. It’s time to start loving yourself.”

Despite the message being “obviously aimed” at the woman, she feels intense “relief” having backed out of looking after the toddler after feeling extremely “anxious” about it.

Her home isn’t “baby proofed”, and her three children are adults who “have all flown the nest” apart from her youngest son, who’s 19, so looking after such a young child - and being forced to take annual leave to do so - was “weighing” heavily on her.

The woman added: “After reading the responses I realise she is just a [cheeky f***er]!”

The post racked up hundreds of comments from people in shock over the woman’s friend’s behaviour.

One person said: “She’s being rude and trying to make you feel bad.

“This is HER PROBLEM not yours. You’ve made it clear the answer is no so just ignore any more pathetic attempts to make you feel bad.”

In response to the friend’s social media post, one Mumsnet user said: “Gaslighting. Mutual friends might get a contorted version of what happened. Your friend is annoyed because she can’t freeload off you anymore. Plain and simple.”

Countless others told the woman to “ignore” her “unhinged” friend.