My SIL keeps calling my baby the wrong name; I finally confronted her

"Now my husband is mad at me and thinks it was an honest mistake," the mum says - but she's still suspicious. 

A mum has been told she overreacted after snapping at her SIL after she repeatedly called her baby the wrong name. 

The 25-year-old took to an online parenting group to explain how the situation reached boiling point. 

She began by saying that she and her husband were “thrilled” to welcome their son into their lives. 

“In the name of our son, my in-laws held a small gathering with the immediate family. This was also the first time for many of them to meet our son, especially the children,” the new mum said. 

Despite having a great time, she said her husband’s sister kept calling their son by the incorrect name. 

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Everyone was amused by it

“Their cousin also had a baby boy, who is two months older than our son, and my sister-in-law kept confusing his name with ours,” she continued. “I think she simply forgets her nephew's name.”

Throughout the rest of their three-day stay at her in-law’s house, this kept happening, much to the amusement of everyone (other than the OP).

“My husband and the rest of the family were only amused by it and would constantly remind her. So did I, but I reached the point where it p*ssed me off,” she revealed. 

“When she called him by the wrong name again, I snapped. I told her that whoever she was calling is not here, and if she had paid attention, maybe she would have noticed that this was a different baby.”

After a long, awkward silence, the SIL apologised and assured her it wouldn’t happen again. As a result, the rest of the weekend was uncomfortable for everyone. 

“After returning home, my husband told me that it was unwarranted, and I was mean to his sister for an honest mistake,” she wrote. “Since I knew that she struggled with people's names, I should have given her some time.”

After agreeing to apologise, she said she still was unsure that she was actually in the wrong. 

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"An honest mistake"

Commenters quickly told her that she should have been more patient with the SIL, saying it was an ‘honest mistake’. 

“From what you’ve written, this was not intentional,” one user replied. “There [are] two new babies in her life, and they have very close names. It’s hard to fully judge without knowing the names. But regardless, you snapped at her despite your own apparent belief that it was a mistake.” 

“You're talking about a baby she's just met. Her brain hasn't had time to create a lot of muscle memory with the name yet. Some people are just better with names than others,” a second noted. 

“I have five older brothers. People called them by the wrong names all the time. You made a mountain out of a molehill and were rude unnecessarily to someone when you were a guest in someone else's home,” a third claimed. 

However, others came to the mum’s defence, questioning whether or not the sister-in-law’s intentions were as innocent as others made them out to be. 

“Once, twice, maybe even three times, might be an innocent mistake. But multiple times, to me, is deliberate,” one claimed. 

“An honest mistake is just that, but once most of the people at the event have corrected her and she still continues saying the wrong name and ONLY puts effort in learning the correct name after being called out…leads me to believe it was purposeful,” someone else echoed. 

Originally published as My SIL keeps calling my baby the wrong name; I finally confronted her