Woman refuses to babysit niece, 'my sister didn't show up on time AGAIN.' AITA?
"AITA for refusing to babysit my niece after my sister didn’t show up on time (again)?"
My sister (32F) and I (28F) have a pretty good relationship overall, but there’s one thing that keeps causing issues she’s always late. Like, every single time I agree to babysit my niece (3F), she’ll say she’ll be back by a certain time, but then she shows up an hour or more late with no real explanation.
I get it things come up, especially when you're a parent. But this has been happening every time for months now. Last week was the final straw. She asked if I could babysit for just 3 hours so she could run errands.
I agreed, and she was supposed to be back by 5 PM. I had evening plans with friends and made it clear I needed to leave by 6 at the latest. Of course, 5 PM came and went with no sign of her. I called and texted, and she just replied, be there soon!
She didn’t show up until 7 PM. I was beyond frustrated because I had to cancel my plans. When she finally arrived, I told her that I wasn’t going to babysit anymore if she couldn’t respect my time.
She got defensive, saying I should be more understanding because she’s a single mom and it’s tough to manage everything on her own. I do feel bad, but at the same time, I feel like she’s taking advantage of me. Now my parents are involved and think I should cut her some slack because family helps family. But I’m just tired of being taken for granted.
Here's what top commenters had to say about this one:
International-Fee255 said:
NTA I was a single mum for a decade and a half and I was never late to pick up my child. You know why? Because I REALLY NEEDED people to help so I didn't want to take advantage of them, even if that meant cutting my own activity short.
She ruined your plans, there's no pass for that. Your parents can either babysit or pay for a babysitter. Don't let her do this to you again. If you don't put your foot down now this will happen forever.
cassowary32 said:
NTA. Her excuse makes no sense. She's not with the child when she's late so how does being a single mom make her two hours late when she's not actually wrangling a child?
fiestafan73 said:
If family helps family, then she can damn well waste your parents' time instead of yours. You don't have to do favors for people who are inconsiderate of your time and effort. NTA.
IHaveSomeOpinions09 said:
NTA. Why is it that “family helps family” only ever works one day? You’re expected to bend over backwards to accommodate her inconsiderate ass because you’re “family,” but she isn’t expected to respect your time or help you in what you need.
agnesperditanitt said:
NTA. Nice of your parents to volunteer as future babysitters, though.
RoyallyOakie said:
NTA...being a single mom doesn't give her carte-blanche to show up whenever. She's ruined a good thing. Stay firm.