When it comes to blended families, fairness is paramount, right?

But what about when it comes to navigating relationships with other family members?

Does one kid’s grandparents have obligations to strangers’ kids just because they all live under the same roof?

Surely not.

But that’s what the boy in this story has been told, leaving him feeling like he’s being a bad brother.

Read on to find out exactly what this kid was being blamed for.

AITA for not asking my grandparents to include the other kids in my house when we visit the water park?

I (a 16-year-old boy) have a really crazy house because my mom remarried after my dad passed.

Her husband already had two kids when they met; they are now 12 and 11 years old.

18 months after my mom and her husband married, his best friend went to jail.

They took in his best friend’s kids, who are now 8 and 6 years old.

Then my mom’s husband’s sister passed.

She had a kid – now aged 5 – who also came to live here.

So in total there are six kids (including me) in the house and two adults.

Yikes! Let’s see what happened to this huge blended family.

My dad’s parents see me a few times a year.

My mom doesn’t let me see them too often because she’s worried the other kids will feel left out, especially because my grandparents don’t automatically include them or send them gifts and stuff.

About a week ago my grandparents told me they were planning to take me to this water park that got renovated about 2 hours away from where I live.

They said we could make a day of it and that mom already gave them permission to take me for the whole day.

Mom was listening to my conversation with them, and right after the call ended she asked me if that was the place the other kids had wanted to visit.

I told her I wasn’t sure but probably since everyone was talking about it at school.

Read on find out what happened next.

My mom made a noise and then a few hours later she told me she had talked to her husband and they wanted me to ask my grandparents to include the other kids that day.

She said they could never afford something like that but my grandparents can, and that she’s happy to pay to come along and be an extra set of hands.

She told me that she thinks they should be willing to include all the kids just this once, because it’s something so popular and exciting.

I told mom I didn’t want them to come with us and I wanted to spend time with my grandparents.

Uh-oh. Let’s see what the mom said to that!

She told me I needed to ask because they would never say yes to her but if they think I want the other kids there it’ll convince them. She gave me a few days to ask, but I didn’t.

Then her husband brought himself into the conversation, and the two of them have reprimanded me for being selfish and greedy.

They said I had the chance to do something kind and wonderful for my “siblings,” and it’s not like mom wasn’t willing to come so she can help.

They told me I need to accept that I have the only grandparents in this family, and that means I should be encouraging more of an inclusive dynamic between us all.

My mom told me she might not be able to say no to it, but she can remind me that I’m already not the best oldest brother in the world.

She says one day I might actually think of them as siblings and regret not trying to make them happier.

AITA?

Let’s be real: those grandparents have no obligation to the other kids.

Even if the boy did want the other kids to come, the grandparent’s surely want to treat and spend the time with their own grandson.

And think about how much more expensive it would be to buy tickets for another five kids!

Let’s see what the people of Reddit had to say about this!

This person agreed that the boy should absolutely not feel bad.

Others felt sorry for the grandparents too.

While this person called out the mom’s behavior.

Meanwhile, another Redditor pointed out some important steps for the boy to take.

Sure, the mom was nice to take in all these kids.

But her son didn’t choose this situation, and neither did his grandparents.

He should be well within his rights to have some fun alone time with them.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.