We all know it takes a village to raise a child. But some parents take that concept and completely weaponize it against their own relatives. There is a massive difference between asking for a little help and treating your extended family like an unpaid daycare center for feral children. One woman on Reddit recently reached her absolute limit with her cousin’s destructive kids and resorted to some highly unconventional tactics.
The Original Poster is a twenty seven year old woman who is stuck dealing with her cousin Amy. Amy is twenty five and has six year old twin boys. According to the author, Amy has a nasty habit of dumping her kids onto relatives for the entire day with zero warning. Because the family demands a close knit dynamic, everyone is forced to just smile and tolerate the constant unpaid babysitting gigs.
When the twins were born, Amy actually joked that her cousin would have to take on babysitting duty. The author bluntly replied that she is no good with kids and would train them instead of babysitting them. Amy brushed it off as a joke. Fast forward six years and those twins are an absolute nightmare. They rip stuffing out of furniture, punch holes in walls, and smash anything made of glass. They are completely out of control.
When it was finally the author’s turn to watch the boys, she remembered her promise. She immediately marched them to the store and bought the biggest bag of M&Ms she could possibly find. She implemented a strict positive reinforcement training program. If they followed orders and behaved, they got a candy. If they misbehaved, she popped a piece of candy into her own mouth.
The dog training method worked like an absolute charm. Soon enough, every single time the kids were dumped at her house, they followed her guidelines perfectly. When she said sit, they sat at the table. When she told them to stay, they did not move a muscle. She was the only person in the entire family who managed to tame the little terrors.
The real test came during a massive extended family party. The author wisely brought her giant bag of M&Ms just in case. Unsurprisingly, the twins were running wild and being incredibly destructive. They even managed to spill an entire tray of party food. All the adults were totally fed up and started yelling at Amy to control her own children.
Amy deployed the classic lazy parent defense. She gave the tired excuse that they are just kids and will eventually grow out of the destructive phase. Hearing this nonsense, the author stepped up to the plate. She shouted the twins’ names and shook her bag of candy like a jar of dog treats.
The boys came running over immediately. To assert dominance, the author popped six pieces of candy into her own mouth as punishment for their terrible behavior. She then ordered them to go clean up the mess they made or they would get zero candy for the rest of the night. The boys completely complied and cleaned up the food.
For the rest of the party, the author was the only one who could calm them down. But when Amy finally realized exactly what her cousin was doing, she completely lost her mind. She started screaming that her children are not animals and scolded the author for giving them too much sugar. The author calmly pointed out that since she is the aunt and not the parent, she should not be the one disciplining them anyway.
Amy doubled down and demanded her cousin stop giving the boys candy. Unfortunately, one of the twins overheard this new rule and went absolutely apesh!t. Knowing the sweet treats were cut off, he dashed straight into the kitchen and started shattering every single thing he could get his hands on. He was screaming for candy, and his twin brother quickly joined the demolition derby.
The author just sat back in the living room and watched the chaos unfold, reminding Amy that she is the mother and this is her problem to solve. At the end of the night, Amy predictably blamed her cousin for the boys turning out this way. Even a friend chimed in later, claiming the dog training method is going to f*ck the kids up mentally later in life.
The internet entirely disagrees with that friend and stands firmly with the author. If a parent refuses to parent, someone else has to step in to keep the house standing. Offering a small reward for basic good behavior is just a classic token economy, which is a totally normal child psychology tool. Amy is just mad that a bag of chocolate did a better job raising her kids than she did. What would you do if a relative dumped destructive kids at your house? Let us know in the comments below!