Expectations can be a heavy burden, especially when they come from family.

One college student faces an emotional tug-of-war when her father asks for help with his growing family — one he had after an affair.

But in the wake of the messy divorce that tore her family apart, she’s left questioning where her responsibility really lies.

You’ll want to read on for this one.

AITA for refusing to babysit my half-siblings and telling my dad I‘m not his „backup mom“?

I (19F) think I might have gone too far, but I need some outside perspective.

For context, my parents divorced when I was 12 because my dad cheated on my mom with a younger woman, Emily (now 31F).

This sent shockwaves through the family.

It was a messy, ugly divorce, and my relationship with my dad has been strained ever since.

He married Emily pretty quickly, and they now have three kids under 5.

Somehow, the responsibility has unfairly fallen on her to care for them.

Ever since the kids were born, he’s been constantly asking me to “help out” with babysitting.

I live with my mom and go to college full-time while working part-time to cover my expenses.

Her father doesn’t seem to care about her busy schedule at all.

Despite that, my dad calls me almost every week, begging me to come over and “bond with my siblings” by babysitting.

He says Emily is overwhelmed and needs a break.

But she doesn’t see this as her responsibility at all.

I honestly don’t care — I never wanted siblings, and I’m still not over the fact that his affair blew up our family.

Regardless, her dad really knows how to guilt trip.

I’ve told him I’m busy with school and work, but he keeps guilt-tripping me, saying things like, “Family takes care of family.”

Last weekend, he called again, practically demanding I babysit because Emily had a “mental breakdown.”

That’s when she couldn’t hold in her resentment any longer.

I lost it. I told him, “I’m not your backup mom. You chose to have more kids, and that’s not my responsibility.”

He got quiet and then said, “I thought you were more mature than this,” before hanging up on me.

Now they’re giving her the cold shoulder.

Now, both he and Emily have been sending me messages, calling me selfish and saying that I’m abandoning my family.

My grandma even chimed in, saying I should “help my father in his time of need.”

She stands firm in her feelings, but doubts whether she went about it the right way.

But I feel like he’s just trying to dump his problems on me because he made bad choices.

My mom thinks I did the right thing, but now half my family is ticked at me.

AITA for refusing to help and saying what I did?

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is set boundaries with someone who’s already crossed them.

What did Reddit have to say?

Many babysitters are rightfully paid for their labor. Hint, hint, Dad.

It’s not right to expect free labor from someone just because they’re family.

Oh so now family is so important to this father. *Eye roll*

This unfair arrangement also threatens to damage her relationship with her step siblings.

Looking out for your own interests doesn’t win you any popularity contests, but it does preserve your sanity.

Sometimes standing firm means standing alone.

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.