:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/woman-arguing-with-brother-070125-22e0f14f352a42d28b8febc97d93e892.jpg)
NEED TO KNOW
- A woman on Reddit has decided she’s not going to babysit her brother’s children after he made another pointed comment about her single, child-free lifestyle at a family BBQ
- Though she’s babysat for him for free numerous times, he told her she “should watch the kids sometime so you understand what actual responsibility feels like”
- Her parents have elected to stay out of the conflict, though her sister-in-law has texted her saying she’s “punishing the kids for their dad’s words”
A woman on Reddit is refusing to babysit for her brother after he made pointed comments about her child-free lifestyle.
In a post on Reddit’s r/AmIOverreacting forum, the 28-year-old woman shares that she is “single, child-free, and works a fully remote job as a graphic designer.”
Meanwhile, her 33-year-old brother “has three kids under 7 and constantly talks down to me like I’m a teenager with no clue what real life is like.”
“Last weekend, at a family BBQ, he joked (again) about how ‘must be nice to sleep in and waste your money on coffee and takeout,'” she writes. “I laughed it off until he added, ‘You should watch the kids sometime so you understand what actual responsibility feels like.’ ”
Getty Stock Image
Though she’s let his previous jabs slide, his comment rubbed her the wrong way, mainly because she’s always offered to help with his kids.
“He’s asked me to babysit multiple times, for free and I’ve always helped when I could. But after that comment, I said ‘If you think my time is worthless, maybe stop asking me to give it away,’ ” she recalls. “He got offended, said I was being sensitive, and now my SIL is texting me saying I ‘punished the kids for their dad’s words.’ ”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Though their parents have decided to stay out of it, she’s wondering if she’s wrong for not bending until he apologizes for his comments, looking for him to show her “a little respect.”
Most commenters agreed that she is “not overreacting,” suggesting that her brother is “putting [her] down because he’s jealous/unhappy.”
“Look, your job/home life is almost certainly easier than if you were also raising 3 kids under 7 (or one kid of any age tbh) but that doesn’t mean that you’re not a fully functioning independent adult who knows what ‘real responsibility’ is,” one commenter weighed in.
“You still have to pay bills, do housework, shop for your own food, prepare your own meals, do your job, meet deadlines, etc etc. Kids are just one—optional!—part of adult life. They’re not the final boss level of Becoming an Adult.”
