Is OTHER wrong in the post ? POST : So about 5 years ago, my niece came to visit us. This was really exciting for her because she was 14 and she was finally allowed to travel on her own. Her mom, my older sister, is a single mom who struggles to get by (barely paycheck to paycheck), so it was our treat and pleasure. We also happened to have a new rambunctious puppy at the time. We reminded my niece multiple times to put her valuables away and to push in chairs, etc, but our puppy ultimately ended up eating her retainer. I immediately told my sister that we would pay for it, since it was a slight hardship for us (~$400-600, can’t remember, but they had no dental insurance) but would have been a devastating blow to my sister. My wife (then GF) grumbled a little about how my niece wasn’t responsible with her belongings even after multiple warnings (she left retainer on table with chair pulled out, a specific scenario we warned about) but ultimately conceded that it was our puppy, our home, and therefore our responsibility.

Anyway, when we were home visiting for Thanksgiving, my wife came to our room (really niece’s room that we’re staying in) to find that my sister’s dog had torn up her suitcase and destroyed most of the clothes she brought and all of her cosmetics. My wife is into fashion, so this is totalling around $800ish damage. The dog had jumped over the gate my sister put up.

This would be, again, a devastating financial blow to my sister. It wouldn’t be easy to replace ourselves but we could manage to do it, especially over time. Get the most crucial stuff now and fill in. That to me seemed like the best solution, but my wife is throwing my old logic back in my face: my sister’s dog, her roof, her responsibility. And she is saying that since my sister put up a gate, giving her a false sense of security, it’s even more crucial since she wasn’t “irresponsible” like my (at the time young teen) niece was. AND she wanted to stay at a hotel anyway, but my sister would have been hurt if we did that so she had already compromised there (this is true). I get all this and I’ve validated my wife’s frustration but I still don’t want to ask my sister to give us money she definitely doesn’t have when she’s raising a daughter and struggles to barely make ends meet. 

It doesn’t help that my wife and my sister aren’t each other’s biggest fans for a lot of other reasons but I think that’s fuel more than fire.

AITA? Or is my wife thinking too black and white?