rSlash - r/Bestof My Neighbor KIDNAPPED My Daughter

Episode Date: December 22, 2023

0:00 Intro 0:09 Halloveen 13:28 Baby name Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yes, that's gotta be the wings. Wings, nice! Where'd you order wings from? Louisiana! Enjoy Wing Night in with Popeye. Popeye's hand-battered wings are marinated full of full 12 hours in Louisiana's seasonings and with five irresistible flavors,

including Ghost Pepper, Honey Garlic and Garlic Pommajon, there's something for everyone. Mmm-mm, we got in by Popeye's and the party more often. Make any night Wing Night in with Popeye. Now get chicken from Popeye's. Welcome to R-slash Best of Redditor Updates, where O.P.'s neighbors try to steal her daughter. Our next reddit post comes from R-slash Am I the Butthole? Am I the Butthole for calling the cops on my neighbors and calling her and her husband petdos at their Halloween event.

Yes, I spell it Halloween intentionally. Me and my husband moved to Norway when we first got married due to his work. I'm a 35 year old woman and my husband is 39. We had our first child here in Norway, a six year old girl. We then had to move to Germany where our other two kids, a four year old boy and a three year old girl were born. Then his company decided to move to Germany where our other two kids, a four-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl were born. Then, his company decided to move him back to Norway, but to the opposite side of the country to where we first lived. Then, we had our fourth kid, who's currently five months old.

So, needless to say, we understand the culture of America, despite not being native. Our daughter started school this August for the first time, and a lot of our classmates live in the same area that we do. One of the boys in her class lives at the end of the road behind us. When we first moved into the neighborhood back in May, we were welcomed by a few of our close neighbors and this boy's mother, Astrid. She took a shine to my baby, but most people fussed over babies, so I didn't think much of it. That same day, she told me that she had lost two baby girls,

and how lucky I was to have so many girls, and she only had three boys. The day after she came with her husband, Morton, and he too wanted to pick up the baby and paid her a lot of compliments. Then, he met our oldest daughter, and made a remark that I didn't think much of at the time. He said that my daughter and his son could easily pass for twins because they're in the same class and they look alike, but they don't. My daughter is super blonde with gray eyes, and their son has dark blonde hair with hazel eyes. So I corrected him. He feigned offense and said what he meant was that she could pass for his daughter as well as my other baby. Again, I corrected them that because of his light brown hair and hazel eyes, neither of my girls could pass as his. He once again insisted

that they could, meaning his features not the coloring. Then he laughed it off and said that he was joking. They invited us to go out for drinks, but we declined as neither one of us drinks, and we don't like to be too friendly with neighbors. During the summer, when we bumped into these neighbors, they would call my daughter Jules, and sing a song from a famous movie in our country. After a few times, I told them to knock it off because it was no longer funny. Since May and up until a week ago, they tried to invite us to many get-togethers, which I found strange, as they hardly ever invite the neighbors that they'd known for longer than us. Morton and Astrid would quite often talk to my daughter on her way back to school.

She passes their house to get to ours. And our daughter said that it bothers her because they both tried to pick her up and Astrid has tried a few times to touch her hair. When my husband confronted them about it, they said that it's just the culture here, but that's not the culture here. The attempts to pick up my daughter and touch her hair stopped after that. At the beginning of October, they wanted us to help them host a Halloween party at the end of October, and they wanted us to meet them at their house so that we could coordinate

the children's costumes, especially the twins in their words. We declined because we don't celebrate Halloween. They tried to convince us otherwise and were very pushy. They even had their son knock on the door a few times to play with his twin after school. Knocking on doors to play with other kids is normal here, and most children roam about after school because it's a safe neighborhood, so this was never suspicious to me. However, after the umpteenth time of calling my daughter one of his twins, I put my foot down and said that he needed to stop joking because it's not funny anymore. My husband goes offshore at times due to his work, and it's been me and the children

since mid-October. My daughter's teacher also lives in the neighborhood, and she's a childhood friend of Astrid. She was president of the park by her house when Astrid came up to me and handed me three costumes, one for each of my girls. What? She said that since we don't celebrate Halloween, her and her husband decided to host a hollow, venn party instead and wanted my girl to wear these. I was shocked and told her no that it wouldn't happen. The teacher tried to convince me that this would be a nice way of meeting other families and it'd be fun for the kids. Astrid said that she had spent a lot of money on adjusting the costumes and found the right hairstyle for my daughter to go as Gretel to her son's haunts. I told her no one made her spend the money as I'd made it very clear that none of my kids would be going.

Right in front of me, she took the hair band off of my daughter's hair and tried to put on the hair band that she had bought for the costume. I told her to stop and started walking off. She tried to apologize and said, relax, wear neighbors and friends. Her teacher followed me and said not to be uptight and then Astrid didn't mean any harm that she just liked girls. On Monday, my daughter came home from school with a different hairstyle and accessories to what I'd sent her off with. I asked her how she got them, and she said her teacher had done her hair during lunch. I asked her if she had played rough so her hair needed to be fixed, and she said no. Yesterday morning I spoke to her teacher, and she confirmed that it was indeed her who had fixed her hair and that it was Astrid who had bought the stuff.

I asked her why she would go against my wishes to which she said that it was only hair stuff and Astrid didn't want to throw it away because she had spent money on it. She thought that my daughters and I would appreciate help with some free accessories. She also said that I hadn't made it explicitly clear not to fix my daughter's hair. I left after telling her to never do that again, and I returned the hair stuff. In the evening, the neighborhood kids went trick-or-treating. I let my daughter go off and play with some of the other girls who weren't trick-or-treating. Around seven o'clock, I couldn't hear them.

So, I went outside to check, and they weren't there. I asked one of the other kids that they had seen her, and they said that Morton and Astrid had collected her in their car and her friend had gone home. I asked my next door neighbor to watch my other two kids while I ran with the baby to the neighbor's place. When I arrived, they were having a party in the garden and my daughter was there. She had done my daughter's hair and she had a candy bag. She was also wearing the Halloween costume. So, in my anger, I called the cost before speaking to anyone, and once I got off the call, I called both of them pedos,

as well as everything under the sun in multiple languages. When the police arrived, I talked to the cops, and then we left. Today at school, her teacher was very short with me, and said that there was no need for that because Morton volunteers at the Children's Football Club. She said that having a police report filed on him wasn't the wisest of choices. She explained that if I wasn't happy, I should have asked for a mediation appointment at the school instead of embarrassing asteroid in Morton in front of everyone. She also mentioned that it was her who helped

my daughter change into the costume, and it's not unusual for teachers to help her students change here. And in this country, this is partially true. She said that Astrid had been grieving, and her behavior is normal for someone who lost so many kids one after the other, and that I shouldn't make it harder on her because people have gossiped quite a bit about it. She said that she didn't know that she had crossed a line and it wouldn't happen again, so could I please drop the complaint to the cops?

On Friday, I have to make a full statement at the police station. The teacher wants me to cancel it because Astrid and Morton aren't bad people, and she thinks that I should be glad that someone else thinks so highly of my daughter. She wasn't harmed, and she sees no reason for me being angry because the kids all play in each other's garden anyways. She says not to blow things out of proportion because at no point was my daughter alone with Morton. So am I the butthole for calling the cops? Then about three weeks later OPP posted an update. We filed a report at the police station and basically we were dismissed. We had two female officers on the first day, but a male police officer came in and offered

us some water and tried to do small talk. He was the ex of my daughter's teacher and told us that. We had to file the report over two days. On the second appointment, we had two female police officers and her ex also joined us. It seemed like he had already talked to her teacher about it, but he denied it when I confronted him about it, citing confidentiality. I was told that they would have a word with Astrid and Morton, but I doubt they took it seriously because all three of the cops defended their actions.

They all wanted to know why I wouldn't let my daughter go to a party. When we got home, Astrid and Morton knocked on the door, but I didn't open the door. On Saturday, while my daughter was playing in the garden with my next door neighbor's kids, she said that Astrid was taking pictures of her from across the street. On Sunday, they came by again and kept knocking on the door. They said they knew that I was inside and that they wanted to talk, but I didn't open the door. I called the cops, and the cops said that if they become violent, call back. Astrid and Morton left, and they left a message in my postbox. It was a long message about how they felt connected to my daughter and how I should take better

care of her. How, they know how it feels to lose a child, and that they only want what's best for her. On the 15th, I kept my daughter from school because she said that Astrid's son kept teasing her. I spoke to the principal about the matter and explained that I needed his absence validated. I took my daughter to the store and I think that maybe I was followed because not five minutes had gone by

when Astrid walked in and bumped into me by the dairy section. She apologized and blocked me in with her cart because I tried to get away. She started talking to my daughter and tried to stroke my baby's hair, so I screamed and that made her walk away from me. The next day I found another note in my postbox telling me not to be so hysterical. I saved that document. I called my husband and told him that he needed to get home ASAP. On the 18th, both Astrid and Morton confronted me at the park and wanted to know why I was keeping jewels away from them due to a misunderstanding.

I politely told him that my husband was home, which was a lie, and they walked away. I called the cops and gave them the latest evidence of the harassment, and they said that they would have a word with Astrid and Morton. On Monday, I attended a meeting with the principal and the teacher where she apologized, but she made it out that it was a misunderstanding. The principal was very nice and told the teacher to back off sternly and not to mix her professional and private life. Astrid and Morton came by my house that evening, and while I was attending to the laundry in the basement, they were talking to my girl in the garden, and she let slip that her dad wasn't home yet. They gave her some cookies,

and she threw them away in the outside bin while they watched. On Tuesday, they confronted us on the way to school and asked me why I lied about my husband. Luckily, I wasn't alone, and one of the neighbors on my street told them to back off. On the way back from picking my daughter up at the end of the day, we took a taxi home. In the evening, they were banging on my door again and they had their sons with them. I called the cops, but they only arrived after Astrid and Morton had left. I discussed it with my husband on the phone and he managed to get three days off, but he won't be home before this weekend because his workplace didn't see this as an emergency. Yesterday, they came by again while we were in the park.

I was preoccupied with my son and noticed a tap on my shoulder. It was Morton holding my daughter and he said that I should take better care of her because she might walk into the road while my attention was elsewhere. He made it out as if she had run into the street, but my daughter denied it. I grabbed her and the other kids, left, and packed up some luggage. I asked my next door neighbor to collect my mail and hold onto it while I booked a hotel. At this point, word had gotten around the neighborhood that Astrid and Morton were being weird around my daughter. I have been staying at this hotel ever since, and my husband is arranging tickets for us

to visit my parents before the Christmas holidays. At this point, I don't want to stay at my home anymore, and my husband will have to ask for a transfer. I spoke to the principal, and she said that she would check in on my daughter in the morning and keep her at pickup time, and that I can pick her up at the office. I haven't told the principal about our moving plans, just in case it gets back to the teacher and then back to Astrid. I hate lying, but I feel like if I don't, I may put us at risk.

One of my neighbors on the other side of the street said that both Astrid and Morton have mentioned that they suspect that I neglect my child, and that they tried to insinuate that maybe I was too overwhelmed with four little kids while my husband was offshore. My neighbor told them that I wasn't neglecting them, so they moved on to another neighbor trying to badmouth me to them. It seems like they're trying to recruit witnesses and helpers. So my neighbor said that it's best to keep documentation in case they call CPS on us, and to get a copy and confirmation from the cops that there's bad blood between us.

My husband can deal with the paperwork in the aftermath and join us when he can arrange a transfer, but I'm not staying here anymore. Yo, what did I just read? These people are nuts! I think you're right OP, I think they literally are trying to steal your kid from you. They're trying to make everyone think that you're neglecting your kids so that the cake is taken away and then, oh well, we can watch here or we can adopt them. They're literally trying to steal your baby.

Our next red-opposed comes from R-slash Am I the butthole? Am I the butthole for telling my pregnant friend that her kid will get bullied for the name that she plans on using? One of my friends found out that she was pregnant a few months ago, and she's really excited to be a mother. I'm happy for her, and I think she'd make a good mom, but there's one problem. She wants her baby's name to be unique and special, but the way she's going about it is terrible.

What I mean is, the name that she plans on using is God awful. If it's a boy, if it's a boy, she's gonna name him Danger spelled D-A-Y-N-G-E-R. And if it's a girl, she's going to name her Tinkerbell. I wish I was joking. I asked her if she was 100% sure and suggested that if she was dead set on those names to maybe make it the kids' middle name. When she asked why, I told her flat out that the kid would get bullied if she named them that. I know just how awful kids can be. I got bullied for my name so I changed it when I was 19. She got really upset and told me that I was being unsupportive and a terrible friend. She's been ignoring my text ever since, and it's been more than a week.

I'm starting to feel kind of guilty over what I said. So down in the comments everyone is saying OP is not the butthole, and the next day OP posted an update. We had a conversation over the phone. I decided to tell her about my experience getting bullied for years because of my name, which was Shaley and I'd be called Galey. And it turns out that my friend has been going through a lot. Birth complications run in her family and she's been really stressed out about it, along

with finding out that her boyfriend, now X of 3 years has been exchanging dirty texts with a coworker of his. I had no idea about this, and she expressed regret for taking out her feelings on me. I carefully brought up some of your points, and suggested using the name Bell for a girl and Tinker Bell as a nickname. She thinks it's cute and she liked that idea. I also mentioned maybe using Dan as a first name with Danger as a nickname, which she wasn't quite as happy about. She did decide

to use danger, still spelled like that as a middle name, which isn't nearly as bad as using it for a first name. On the right side, the kid can tell people, danger is my middle name. Thank you all for the advice everyone. I really appreciate your help and suggestions.