Her Sister Kept Taking Advantage Of Her For Childcare Because She’s A Stay-At-Home Mom, So She Finally Told Her Sister That She Doesn’t Want To Watch Three Extra Kids Every Single Day
This stay-at-home mother has two children, including a 1-year-old. Her sister has three children, and while she deeply loves her sister and considers her a best friend, she has become overwhelmed with her sister expecting her to provide childcare.
“She takes advantage of me. Because I am a stay-at-home mom, she thinks she can drop her kids off with me anytime and that I have no other life besides staying home,” she said.
A vicious cycle began when her sister’s children came to her house every day after school, and her sister picked them up when she was done working. Unfortunately, her sister’s children are unruly and poorly behaved. Caring for five children at once is stressful and exhausting for her.
“Sometimes I feel like I barely survive those hours until she leaves work because it is so ROUGH. Not only that, but I am finding that I have to go grocery shopping twice a week now,” she explained.
Since her sister’s children are hungry when they come to her house after school, they eat a lot of her food, and she runs low on groceries quickly.
This week, her sister’s kids were on vacation from school. Leading up to their week off, her sister expected her to care for her children daily. However, her sister didn’t ask if she could before she made this assumption.
When she conversationally asked her sister what she had planned for her children during their weeklong break from school, her sister told her she assumed she’d be caring for her children. She loves her sister’s children, and their children have a strong bond.
But it’s tough to bring five children along when she goes grocery shopping, to doctor’s appointments, and to run other errands. She has to cook and put her 1-year-old child down for naps while caring for four other kids.
The day before a doctor’s appointment, she told her sister she couldn’t care for her children, adding that bringing five children to her appointment would be ridiculous.
Andrey_Arkusha – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
“She said, ‘They have nowhere else to go, so can they just go with you, or can you reschedule it?’ After this happened many, many times in the past, I stood my ground and said no,” she shared.
During the conversation, she told her sister she refused to cancel her doctor’s appointment, and her sister was furious that she had to find someone else to care for her kids that day.
She later lectured her sister, stating that this was a great learning experience and that she had to find alternative childcare options for her three kids over the summer.
Then, she told her sister she wouldn’t be able to care for three more children every single day, especially when she had errands to run and couldn’t stay home with them or bring that many kids with her everywhere.
While she didn’t want to negatively impact her sister’s children or cause a tough situation for them, watching five children every day has been overwhelming.
What advice would you give her?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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