Abby Connolly
If you’re an older sibling, chances are, you’ve felt like a babysitter for your parents occasionally. If your parents ask you to watch your younger siblings without them occasionally, it’s usually not a big deal, but it gets annoying when they ask you to do it several times in a row.
One teenager recently had to put her foot down and tell her dad she would not be stuck babysitting her step-siblings all summer like she’s had to in the past.
She’s 17-years-old and lives with her dad, stepmom, and three young step-siblings who are all under 10.
She has a very complicated and sad relationship with her dad, whom she’s struggled to bond with since she was a kid. For most of her childhood, her dad was absent and left her birth mom to raise her mostly on her own.
Her dad would only show up for important events to uphold their family image and would only spend time with her when they’d do something that benefitted him.
“He never failed to show up when it was about him,” she said.
“My mom got sick when I was eight, and my dad bailed and filed for divorce. He left me to deal with my dying mom, and unfortunately for her, the divorce didn’t go through before she passed, so he was still her husband. He wasn’t emotionally [or physically] present for me then.”
A few years after her mom passed away, when she was 12, her dad remarried, and she was forced to live with him, her stepmom, and her step-siblings.
While her stepmom isn’t a horrible person, she and her dad expect a lot from her regarding her step-siblings. As long as her dad and stepmom have been married, she’s been expected to work like a live-in babysitter for their family, especially during the summertime.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
