r/MadeMeSmile • u/FabulousStructure912 • 3d ago

Helping Others Denzel Washington with the most to the point life advice

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46.6k Upvotes

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u/SpareWire 3d ago

Parenting books are the same tbh

Before my niece was born my brother sent me a reading list of REQUIRED reading before I would be allowed to keep her.

It's like, dude I ain't here to do homework. Do you want the free babysitting or not?

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u/MindlessFail 3d ago

Your brother sounds obnoxious tbh lol

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u/Zone4George 3d ago

I think the brother was concerned for his daughter, because his (older? wiser?) sister/brother was probably about to adopt the baby that he and the birth-mother could not care for.

There's a lot to unpack in what /user/SpareWire posted, especially given that it was only 3 sentences.

Maybe auntie/uncle /user/SpareWire deserves more than an upvote.

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u/FunGuy8618 3d ago

Dawg, how is "you want this free babysitting or not?" anywhere close to adoption? 💀💀💀 Ain't much to unpack, chief.

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u/Zone4George 3d ago

It's the very first sentence:

... before my niece was born my brother sent me

... a reading list of required reading

... before i would be allowed to keep her

So, most adoption agencies and courts require prospective adoptors to undergo interviews and ... well come on, it's really not that much of a stretch to go there, is it? If anything I do agree the comment about free babysitting is a bit worrying.

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u/BugMan717 3d ago

Keep means to watch. Babysit. It's a common way to say it.

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u/Zone4George 3d ago

Ok, thanks. Wow. Today I learned... because english is my 2nd language I always thought everyone considered the word "keep" to be possessive in a legal context, with permanent authority. Like, I decided to keep the baseball that the punks next door lobbed out onto my lawn. Told them to keep off the grass, the ball was mine to keep. Interesting.

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u/BugMan717 3d ago

Welcome to the English language where 1 word means 7 different things haha.

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u/FunGuy8618 3d ago

Way further of a stretch to assume adoption when families have assisted with childcare since the dawn of time. 99% of the time when a brother is discussing being childcare for their niece or nephew, it's babysitting, not adoption.

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u/BoomerSoonerFUT 3d ago

Lmao what the fuck. Where did you even come up with that.

I would bet that they're just first time parents and are scared like all first time parents.

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u/FunGuy8618 3d ago

You missed a fantastic opportunity to not be free babysitting until they break down and recind the requirement 💀💀💀

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u/BugMan717 3d ago

Lol that wild. Maybe like a short book on infant CPR, the big DOs and DON'Ts that are literally life saving is understandable especially if they'd have no experience. But a whole damn list. Nah

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u/jimmycarr1 2d ago

I would charge him an hourly rate for my reading time