Some parents, I’ll tell ya…
It just doesn’t seem like they get it…
Take a look at this story a mother shared on Reddit’s “Am I the A**hole?” page and see if you think this parent might be a little bit…out of line…
AITA for telling my teen she can’t go to a dance because I need her to babysit and she’s my only option?
“My kids are Bindi (17) Ava (14) and Fritz (9).
I’ll cut right to the problem: my sisters and I are going for an overnight trip late this month. With my oldest sister’s work schedule the only time we can go for the foreseeable future is the 29th. This has been planned for several weeks.
Bindi announced to me this week that her school is doing a Halloween dance on the 29th. She was so excited and was excitedly planning her costume, I h**ed to burst her bubble but I had to tell her she can’t go. You see, Fritz is severely autistic (exactly what you’re probably thinking, he’s nonverbal, no eye contact, no toilet training, that sort of thing).
This makes him much more difficult to leave with someone than his sisters ever were – I could easily find a sitter for them when they were younger. The only people who will even take Fritz outside our household are his grandparents, who cannot watch him that weekend. He also does well with Bindi, meaning she is literally our only option.
Bindi didn’t take it well and asked me why Ava can’t watch him for a few hours while she’s at the dance, since Ava has babysat before. Well, Ava is having surgery the Monday before that, nothing major but she is not going to be healed up enough to deal with one of her brother’s meltdowns by Friday.
(I’m not saying that would happen but it’s always a possibility with him). She can help but someone else needs to be there and that someone else is going to have to be Bindi.
She responded by saying she “didn’t realize her siblings were so much more important” and went up to her room scowling. I’ve tried knocking and calling her, but she keeps sending me straight to voicemail.
I get that she’s upset and was really looking forward to this dance (it’s only for juniors and seniors and school didn’t have it last year thanks to COVID), but I’m going to need her to make a small sacrifice for the family right now. I fully intend to make it up to her.
But does expecting her to be there for family make me TA?”
And here’s how Reddit users reacted to the story.
This person said that this parent is an a**hole, on doubt about it.
And this Reddit user said that this whole situation seems pretty messed up.
Another person said that’s the kids in this family probably have to make a lot of sacrifices because of their parents.
And finally, this person said that the child deserves to have a childhood, no matter the circumstances.
What do you think?
Let us know in the comments.
Please and thank you!