Dear Prudence,
I adore my house. It is in a beautiful wooden area and built into a very steep hillside. I can get up in the morning and watch the deer coming downstream. Here’s the problem: It isn’t child friendly, and I can’t trust my sister to keep an eye on her kids. There have been multiple incidents where she lets them run around, get into trouble, or destroy other people’s possessions. She is always playing on her phone and claims she only looked away for a second. Last time we were together, her 5-year-old son fell off the dock at our cousin’s lake house and could have almost drowned. My sister was inside playing on her phone, again.
Well, my sister keeps pushing to visit me overnight with her kids, since my area has a lot of family-friendly tourist attractions. My sister gets very defensive about her parenting style and has something of a chip on her shoulder. She and our cousin still aren’t speaking to each other after that last visit. What do I tell her? I already expressed my concerns about the house not being child-proof and only having a small front yard facing the road and she dismissed me again. I need help here.
—Not Child Friendly