Photo: fizkes / Shutterstock
He has his own life.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Nov 05, 2022
As many older siblings can relate, having to watch your younger siblings can be a grueling and downright annoying task to do.
Posting to the subreddit "r/AmItheA--hole" (AITA), one man had enough of his parents constantly asking him to watch his siblings.
In his Reddit post, the 21-year-old, explained that he is the oldest of eight siblings, "with the youngest one being 11."
His parents work long hours and often ask him to watch his siblings.
"My parents are both trauma surgeons and have always worked odd hours so I essentially raised my siblings until I moved out for college," he described.
Now, he's a senior in college and moved off-campus to a three-bedroom home to be closer to his family.
Every weekend, his parents will drop his siblings off at his house and pay him to watch them while they work.
"This is usually fine since I’m a homebody and I love being around my siblings," he admits.
However, he takes school very seriously and often needs time to work on important assignments he has due so he can graduate on time.
He explained that he has his "third" of "five weekend labs of the semester" to complete and is worth a significant portion of his overall grade.
He told his parents that he wouldn't be able to watch his siblings because he needed to complete his schoolwork.
When he told his parents, they "completely disregarded" his excuse.
When he went over for dinner at their house one night, his parents told him that they had booked a "non-refundable trip" for the upcoming weekend and they needed him to watch his siblings while they were gone.
The man immediately got angry, especially after previously telling his parents that he wouldn't be able to watch his siblings that weekend.
"We went back and forth for a while and my mom said I was being selfish and asked me to miss my lab since it was 'only 6% of my grade,'" he said, noting that the grade was actually worth 30%.
He told his parents that his siblings weren't his children, they were theirs, and therefore were not his "responsibility."
His mom started crying after hearing what he said, while his dad sternly berated him for making his mother cry and asked him to leave.
Since the incident, neither one of his parents are answering his texts or calls.
"I feel bad but I just don’t feel like they’re seeing my side of things," the man wrote.
He said that he's attempted to talk to them, reaching out frequently, but they refuse to speak with him.
Even his younger siblings have been ignoring his calls, which the man concluded has been making him sad.
A majority of people who commented on the man's Reddit post agreed that he was NTA (Not the A--hole).
"Wow, that is some big emotional blackmail. Stand your ground! They are trying to make you feel guilty so you'll budge. Don't call them, don't apologize," one user wrote.
Another user wrote, "It's great that you provide childcare for them whenever you can, it's great that they do compensate you for it."
"But they aren't your responsibility, if you're not available it's on them to get a babysitter, or find someone. Not on you."
A third user chimed in, writing, "Bottom line is they’re not your kids. If they pay you every weekend (and have trauma surgeon salary) they can certainly afford a weekend nanny while they go out of town."
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.