Father Expects Daughter To Honor Rent-Free Chores Agreement, But She Pushes Back Citing College Workload And Asks For A Reduction
by Heather Hall
Expecting your child to hold up their end of an agreement can feel reasonable, that is, until they ask for a change.
So, what if you were providing free housing for your child under the condition they help around the house, but they suddenly struggled to keep up?
Would you hold firm to the original deal?
Or would you adjust it to support their education? And how would you handle family members stepping in with their opinions?
In the following story, one father faces this exact challenge and is unsure if he’s handling it correctly.
Here’s what’s going on.
AITA for expecting my Daughter to stick to our chores-for-rent deal?
So, I have a 20-year-old daughter who is currently living with me rent-free while she attends college.
When she moved back home, we made a deal where she would cook and clean the house as a form of payment for her living here.
She agreed to it, and we both thought it was fair.
However, recently, she approached me and said that the cooking and cleaning are taking up too much of her time, making it hard for her to study and complete her homework.
She asked if I could reduce the number of days she has to cook to give her more time for her studies.
He tried to put it into perspective for her.
I told her that she should be grateful for the deal I offered her and that it’s not that hard to do a few hours of chores compared to what many kids her age are going through.
I pointed out that some of her peers are working 9-5 while going to school simultaneously, and I’ve given her the luxury of just handling some household chores in exchange for free housing.
She ended up calling her aunt (my sister) behind my back to complain about how I’m treating her, and my sister called me, and kind of went off on me, basically saying I’m being too strict and should listen to my daughter.
Here’s where I’m unsure if I’m in the wrong.
I want to stick to the agreement we made, but my sister’s words have me questioning my stance.
I thought it was a fair deal.
AITA?
Both sides have a valid point.
Let’s check out how Reddit readers weigh in on this story.
This person thinks she’d rather work a real job.
According to this comment, the sons should help.
Here’s someone who thinks he’s taking advantage of his daughter.
Yet another person who feels the sons should help.
It’s time to renegotiate the deal.
Obviously, it’s not working for the daughter, so rather than lose her help altogether, he should listen to her and make changes that work for both of them.
If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.

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