OP (Original Poster) believed one teenager watching 16 kids is too much, so she refused to babysit her cousins alone. But little did she know that her relatives would go berserk with her decision!
Her Cousin’s 8th Birthday
OP is a 17-year-old girl who attended her cousin Poppy’s 8th birthday. Most of her other cousins who attended the party were all under 11, but she had fun at the party nonetheless.
However, the birthday girl wanted to have a sleepover with all her cousins and four of her friends.
Babysitting 16 Kids Is Too Much!
For OP, being with 16 kids is too much.
She said, “The thing is that’s equal to about 16 little kids, so I wasn’t planning to spend the night, and neither were my other cousins, who were 12 to 14. We were going to go back to my house and watch scary movies so Poppy could have the birthday of her dreams.”
Pushing Her to Agree
However, around an hour into the party, all her little cousins ran up to her, asking her if she could spend the night with them, too. OP told them no and explained she already had plans, but they kept pushing.
Some of her aunts and uncles also asked her to do it, but she told them the same thing.
Underlying Reasons
After this, Kay, Poppy’s stepsister, approached her and asked her to spend the night. Again, OP asked why, and Kay told her that all the kids’ parents planned to hang out at the creek.
OP then shared that she had an issue with Kay’s mom because she used to live with them, and Poppy’s parents would “dump their kids” on her and “run off for hours doing God knows what.” She said, “Let’s just say I moved out sooner than they wanted me to.”
Getting Out of There
OP ultimately decided to leave; she truly had plans and had told everyone so. She said goodbye and gave everyone hugs; no one complained when she left.
However, she noticed her phone was blowing up when she got home! She checked it and saw it was Poppy and Kay’s mom, Kelly, sending her texts and voice memos where she was “screaming at her.”
Why’d You Bail on Them
OP decided to ignore the messages and turned off all notifications from Kelly. However, all her other aunts and uncles soon started calling her; her Uncle Chris, Poppy’s dad, accused OP of bailing on the kids.
Because of this, he and Kelly did not have a date night with the rest of the family.
Clarifications
She was confused about why her uncle said she “bailed” on the kids, so she asked him about it.
OP wrote, “He said that Kelly said I would watch the kids so everyone could have fun.”
OP said she didn’t promise anything like that, but her uncle hung up on her before she could say anything else. OP said, “I didn’t even say anything about me spending the night with them; I said quite the opposite all afternoon. Chris had even asked me if I was spending the night, and I told him no as well.”
Rude Wake-up Call
OP and the rest of her older cousins had a great night, but little did she expect that she would be rudely woken up with ice-cold water on her face the following day! She mentioned her Aunt Dawn and Uncle Heath stood over her, angry.
She got up and changed, then was yelled at by the rest of her family for hours. OP wrote, “I didn’t snap or yell or cry or giggle at the situation because it was so f****** stupid.”
Stating Her Piece
When OP finally got a chance to explain her side, she told them that if they wanted them to watch their kids, then each of them could pay her $10 for each child. She said she would have done it if they did because “she’s been taking care of their kids since she was 10.”
Even so, she wasn’t going to watch 16 kids alone, with no help and no money, because they “are not even hers to take care of.”
Anger-Induced Conversations
Everyone looked shocked at OP’s outburst. Then, they started to yell at her again, saying they were family and that it would be “stupid” to watch her cousins for money.
She said, “I now feel bad because family means so much to me and everyone, but I don’t think it was wrong of me to ask for money to watch 16 kids. I just don’t know what to do. I think I’ll apologize to them, but I need a second opinion.”
Her Mom’s Piece
Her Aunt Dawn somehow got to read her Reddit post, and now OP’s in “deeper s***.” Her aunt went to her sister’s apartment, where OP lived.
When she let her aunt in, she immediately called her mom and handed her aunt the phone. OP wrote, “She got a speech about how none of them had a right to talk to me like that, and she is driving back home right now, and we are going to have a family meeting again because of their treatment toward me.”
Too Late for Apologies
When her aunt left, she received a text saying how OP should have talked to her before posting their family’s story online. She even tried to excuse herself, saying the ice-cold water was “just a joke.”
Her mom and sister are proud of her for standing her ground, but it seems the issue is not yet over; her Uncle Chris was and will always be her favorite uncle, but she was hurt by what he did. She wrote, “My Uncle Chris had called me a few minutes ago and said he was sorry. I said okay, and he cried to me for about a minute about how I’m like a daughter to him and Kelly. I told him that if he had really heard me for five minutes, then he would have known. I hung up. I’m heartbroken.”
Family Meeting
When the whole family talked, the only issue they wanted to bring up was how wrong OP was for turning to Reddit. They even threatened that she wouldn’t be able to see any of her cousins if she didn’t delete or take down the post.
However, OP responded by saying they will all need her someday because she watched their kids for free. She shared, “By the end of it, we were all in tears. Most of my aunts and uncles were crying. My grandma, mom, and sister were yelling at them, saying I hold this family together.”
More Problems
Kelly started yelling again, pushing for OP to take down the post. However, OP did her best to explain that she just wanted a different perspective on everything.
She felt terrible that she was causing her family pain, but at the same time, OP thought that she really needed the help she could get from the community.
The End of It
Their family meeting ended with OP apologizing for posting the story publicly and her aunts and uncles offering $20 an hour to watch their kids, which OP was happy to do.
Then, her mom, the eldest sibling, told her aunts and uncles that “if they didn’t want OP to disown them when she’s older, then they need to start treating her with some freaking respect.”
Redditors’ Two Cents
For Redditors, her uncles and aunts tried to treat her like a slave.
One said, “You are not the a**hole; they were just looking for free babysitting.” Another replied, “They want OP to be a free slave.”
What’s Wrong With People?
Some users were also disappointed at her aunts and uncles for failing to do the bare minimum for her.
A woman asked, “Why is it so hard for people to ask instead of assuming people will do something for them?” Another replied to her, saying, “Because that would be extending respect to a teenager, and it’s much easier to manipulate her if she feels obligated and indebted to them.”
Do you think OP was right to stand her ground? What would you tell her aunts and uncles?
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This post first appeared as She Refused to Babysit 16 Kids for Free and Got Rudely Woken up With Ice-Cold Water on Her Face Next Morning on Quote Ambition.
