A Man Shared the Story of How His Wife Started Dating His Neighbor. But This Isn’t What He’s Worried About

There’s nothing wrong with helping out neighbors and friends. Most likely, we have all at times asked someone close to us for assistance: to help unload boxes after a move, or to give us a ride to the train station. However, such situations are somewhat contradictory to the thesis that all work should be paid for. And in some cases, as in the story of this Reddit user, a simple request to watch the children can even become a real threat to a marriage.

How a simple shared interest marked the beginning of a big change in a family.

A young man shared how his wife became close with a single father living next door due to shared interests. At first, the story’s author saw nothing wrong with his spouse and the man quickly finding common ground, as did their children. However, over time, this not only became a threat to their marriage but also created dilemmas regarding how to raise their children.

According to the story’s author, he was invited to join them, but he declined. Therefore, while watching movies, whether at a theater in another city or at Walter’s house, the man had to watch over both his daughter and the neighbor’s daughters.

Watching movies together quickly turned into actual dates.

At some point, the leisure time of the user’s wife and their neighbor took on a slightly different form: they began going out together for dinner. Walter invited the author’s entire family, including the children, to restaurants, but such establishments were not affordable for the man, so he preferred to look after the children in these cases.

When watching films together and having dinners became ordinary, the author realized he was tired of being a babysitter for 3 kids.

The neighbor suggested a solution, but the spouses had different opinions.

The author of the story talked with his wife and Walter. The neighbor indicated that he doesn’t like leaving his daughters with babysitters and would feel more comfortable if an experienced father looked after his children instead of a high school student. Walter agreed that such work should be compensated and suggested paying the man the standard babysitting rate every time he meets with his wife.

The spouses discussed this issue for a long time, but the wife was uncompromising. She got angry every time the author of the story brought up the topic. The neighbor promised to persuade her, but the trio never reached a compromise.

How Reddit users reacted.

The story published by the user sparked heated discussions. Although the author was questioning whether it was appropriate to pay a father to take care of children, including his own daughter, people were mostly disturbed by different circumstances.

• [You are] calling taking care of your own kid “babysitting” and not really caring about your marriage. Don’t be surprised if your wife ends up leaving you for Walter, if they’re not already having an affair... © Primary-Criticism929 / Reddit
• I’m sorry, but it looks like your wife has a new husband. And somehow you’re the babysitter. I kept reading, thinking this must be a joke. But this whole situation is so bizarre. I think you need to figure out if you want to be married, and if she does. Because right now it doesn’t seem like you are. © TunaNoodleCasserole1 / Reddit
• There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a friend of the opposite sex who shares a hobby. The issue is, the author of the post is refusing to participate in ANY aspect of his wife’s interests or fill her romantic needs, letting Walter fill the vacuum. © RadiantSriracha / Reddit
• Walter pays for your wife’s dinner. If you want Walter to also pay you to babysit, then your wife pays for her own dinner. © Sparkle__M0tion / Reddit

• You’re tired of babysitting his kids for free while he dates your wife? I mean, if you want to focus on the $10/hr, that’s okay. If I were you I’d be way more concerned with my wife’s obvious affair. © Unknown author / Reddit
• Walter and your wife might have a common interest, but they’ve tried to involve you in things outside of that like going out to eat, and you refused, and now you’re complaining about sitting at home and moping and “babysitting” which you CHOSE to do. Also, ticking the box of taking your wife out for a nice dinner by letting someone else do it? © stirfly93 / Reddit
• At that age, those girls pretty much watch themselves. I know this wasn’t the question, but you’re also not prioritizing your relationship. You don’t have to like everything your wife does, and it’s fine to have separate hobbies, but the expression “don’t stop dating your wife or someone else will” applies here. © northshore21 / Reddit
• From what I’m reading, you only want Walter to pay you for watching his kids, but your wife doesn’t want you to accept that money. You should never expect to be paid for watching your own kids. © Screamscaper / Reddit

Judging by the Reddit users’ reactions, the author should not worry about the payment. Some people even asked him to keep them updated on how his wife’s and Walter’s relationship would develop.