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She didn't have anyone else to watch her son beside her sister.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Mar 03, 2023
A young mother was ridiculed by her family after asking her sister to look after her young son while she went to work.
Posting to the subreddit "r/AmItheA--hole" (AITA) — a forum where users try to figure out if they were wrong or not in an argument that has been bothering them — she explained that her sister lives with her, and refused to babysit when asked.
The woman's sister refused to babysit her child even though she lives in her home 'rent-free.'
In her Reddit post, the woman, 24, wrote that she has been housing her 18-year-old sister, Ella, for free while she attends a college nearby.
"My fiancé is deployed and I have a 1-year-old son," she revealed, adding that her sister has no job and she has become financially responsible for Ella while she's in school, on top of taking care of her own son.
Ella chose to live with her older sister after not being able to live with their parents since they live farther away from her college.
"I never ever ask my sister for help with the baby. She lives with me so she’s able to go to the school she wanted to go to."
She explained that she works five days out of the week, and will usually put her son in daycare during her hours at her job.
However, one Saturday she was called into work despite having the weekends off and was unable to send her son to daycare since it was closed.
She "pleaded" with Ella to watch her son, but her younger sister refused.
"[She] told me it was her weekend off from school and she had a lot of studying to do. I told her I really needed her to do this for me. I never ask her."
Her sister rebutted, telling her to just look for a babysitter if she needed someone to watch her son.
"I told her no, you need to watch him, I take care of you and you can do this one thing for me, or you can go back and live with our parents."
Her sister and parents are now accusing her of making her son her sister's responsibility.
The woman's sister immediately became enraged after hearing that she could be kicked out and forced to live with their parents.
"She got really upset and said I’m throwing what I do for her in her face, and how she’s an adult and my son wasn’t her kid."
After more back-and-forth between them, Ella eventually agreed to watch her nephew, and she was able to leave and go to work.
However, while on break, she decided to check her phone, and was shocked to see that she had an influx of text messages from their parents.
They accused her of "abusing [her] power" over her young sister and putting all the responsibility of caring for her son onto Ella instead.
"[They said] that my son wasn’t her responsibility," she concluded.
Most Reddit users agreed that the woman was NTA (Not The A-hole) for asking her sister to babysit.
"This isn’t a usual occurrence. You asked her to watch him one time, so you could deal with a job emergency," one user wrote.
"The job that allows you to support her. If she feels so [strongly] about it, maybe it is time for her to go fend for herself."
Another user added, "Your sister is right that she's not responsible for the ongoing well-being of your child."
"[But], she had to have had at least an inkling of foresight when moving in with you, that once in a while, she may need to watch the kid in an unanticipated circumstance."
A third user chimed in, "You needed an adult family member who lives with you to watch your kid in a one-off situation where you had no other reasonable options."
"It sucks for the family member, but it happens."
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.