My neighbor requested that I care for her 6 children – I called children services a couple of hours after she left

A woman asked Reddit if she was wrong for calling Child Services after her neighbor abandoned six children on her doorstep and said she wouldn’t be back until Sunday.

OP explained that the mother often tricks neighbors into babysitting. This time, she knocked aggressively on OP’s door, rushed through a few sentences, said a cab was waiting, and ran off before OP could refuse. The children ranged from 6 months to 7 years old.

OP texted and called the mother, demanding she return within 40 minutes or she would contact Child Services. The mother replied that she was already out of town and suggested OP drop the kids at another neighbor’s house — a 68-year-old woman with fragile health.

When the mother refused to come back, OP called Child Services. Police arrived with them, as they often do in abandonment cases. The mother later called, furious, claiming she was halfway to Blackpool and threatening OP.

Although OP believed she did the right thing, her husband was furious. He had been in foster care as a child and told her about the abuse he had witnessed. He accused her of separating a mother from her children and said she should have put them in the cab or taken them to the other neighbor.

Now OP is torn, exhausted, and questioning whether she overreacted — and whether she should try to undo what she did.