Dad demands babysitter replace $2,200 guitar that his daughter broke – and Reddit isn’t impressed

A dad has been lambasted on social media after demanding that a babysitter replace the expensive guitar his infant daughter smashed while under her watch.

In a lengthy Reddit post, the man explained that the 19-year-old was at his house when she decided to go outside to take an emergency call, leaving the three-year-old unattended for 20 minutes.

“In those 20 minutes, our daughter was able to move the couch to the living room gate, scale the gate, head into the basement, and pull one of my guitars off the wall,” he said.

The precious instrument was left with a “warped neck” which a specialist told him would need to be replaced.

He continued: “I’m asking the babysitter to front the bill on a new guitar, not a repair or neck replacement, as the alternatives diminish the value of the guitar.”

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This would cost the teenager a whopping $2,200, he confirmed.

He ended his message with a question to readers: “Am I the a**hole here? Or is she?

“Her parents are telling us we’re responsible, she’s offering only to have babysat for free, our friends are saying we’re too harsh, but it was her responsibility, right?”

Wrong, according to most viewers of the message, which has racked up more than 1,400 comments and 4,000 upvotes on the platform.

One fellow Redditor wrote: “I think this situation is reason for you to stop hiring her as your babysitter, but asking a 19-year-old to pay you $2,200 for something that was ultimately destroyed by your child is too much.

“She failed in her duty to supervise your child, so you’re justified in not hiring her again, but other than that, how can you possibly expect her to pay you all that? It’s just unreasonable, as is the fact that you’re not asking her to repair your guitar, you’re asking her for a new guitar. Come on, dude.”

Another acknowledged: “The babysitter is partially to blame, sure, but you also share a large portion of the blame.

“The babysitter would be responsible for a portion of the repair—not a brand new guitar. Your demand for a new guitar means you are trying to profit off of this, and that’s why you’re the a**hole.”

A third commented: “Your kid could damage (the guitar) while you’re home and there’s no babysitter, too. What’re you gonna do - take it out of her future paychecks when she’s old enough to start earning?

“Child-proof your house or accept the risks, geez.”

And another pointed out: “If he’s got thousands of dollars worth of guitars down there why isn’t the basement door locked? You don’t want baby falling down the basement stairs even if all that’s down there is laundry and dust bunnies.”

However, other users did come to the original poster (OP)’s defence.

“This is just blatantly wrong. Three-year-olds cannot be left unsupervised for that long, period. There’s no amount of baby proofing that makes that safe,” wrote one.

“I don’t know really, I’d be p***ed if I found out that my babysitter had stepped outside and left my three-year-old by themselves for 20 minutes. If that kid rolled down the basement stairs and broke a bone or suffered a head injury, would the sitter not be responsible for that?”

They added that the father had “left specific instructions and the sitter should have either taken the call while watching the kid or called the parents to let them know she had an emergency and had to leave.”

Meanwhile, a music shop manager suggested that neither the child nor the babysitter were to blame for the damage to the guitar.

They wrote: “I’d like to point out that if the guitar’s neck was warped and not broken there’s almost no way it could have been done by the babysitter/child. Necks only warp for a few different reasons.”

These include improper storage and keeping the instrument “leaning at an angle against a wall for extended periods”.

“It would have taken a very long time for that neck to warp (months to years),” they explained.

“There’s no way it could have been done in 20 minutes. OP likely has his instrument stored improperly and as a result caused his own neck to warp.”

“So OP ruined his own guitar and is trying to fleece the babysitter for the cost? Yikes,” a reader responded.

Whatever the outcome, the dad now has to live with Reddit branding him an official a**hole.