Woman’s Sister-in-Law Accuses Her of Calling Her Newborn ‘Ugly’

There are certain universally accepted social rules about babies — like there's no such thing as an "ugly" one. But a mom on Reddit is under fire for breaking that rule, at least according to her sister-in-law. Turns out, it was a bit more complicated than that. In a post on the Am I the A–hole subreddit, the original poster (OP) shared the details of her frustrating situation.

The OP explained that her sister-in-law and brother-in-law are staying with her and her husband while they have construction done at their house.

Already, it sounds like the OP is fairly generous, given that she has a 1-year-old and we're in the midst of a global health situation.

The OP explained that she and her SIL had a conversation the other night, in which her SIL asked if her 2-month-old daughter is "the cutest baby ever."

The OP said, "Of course."

She admitted to Reddit that she's actually "not overtly excited at the prospect of a newborn in the house," because she has her hands full with her son.

The SIL then asked if the OP's son was "as cute as her when he was her age," to which the OP replied, "I guess he was."  

Apparently, that was the wrong answer, as the SIL responded, "I don't think so. I mean, clearly [her baby's name] is way more cute."

To that, the OP commented, "You're right. Newborns are almost never cute, and all of them look the same. Mine wasn't, and yours isn't."

The SIL took offense and later told both of their husbands that the OP called the baby ugly. "When I told her that that's not what I meant, she told me that it doesn't matter what my words were, I implied that her baby is ugly," recalled the OP.

Now, the OP's brother-in-law is pushing her to apologize ASAP "or else he's threatened to leave our house and go live in a hotel or something." The OP continued, "My husband thinks that I shouldn't apologize and that they can leave. I like my husband's idea better."

She turned it over to other Redditors to get their opinions.

Plenty of commenters sided with the OP, rolling their eyes at the SIL's behavior.

"Let them leave. It's not a f—ing beauty pageant and people need to stop commenting on how a baby looks," wrote one commenter.

Another noted, "She was trying to demand a compliment, and you got sick of it. Also, your BIL is threatening to leave your house that you and your husband are graciously allowing them to stay in? Let them leave."

A third wrote, "SIL heard what she wanted to hear, not what you said. It's no skin off your back if you get your house back to yourself."

Still, some commenters thought the OP could have resisted the snarky comeback.

"OP could have called out her SIL's comment without stooping to her level," one Redditor wrote. "Neither woman technically called each other's child ugly, but I think mutual apologies are needed here."

Another noted, "She shouldn't have been comparing babies, and you shouldn't have egged her on, even if she basically asked for it. And let them leave if they want to. What they do is not your responsibility."

Ultimately, let's hope that everyone involved realizes that if this petty ridiculous disagreement is their biggest problem in 2020, they've got it pretty good.

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