Helping out a family member in need is great… until it turns into unpaid labor.

One woman was happy to help babysit for her aunt who was going through a divorce, but when her requests continue to pile up, her goodwill began to reach its limits.

Read on for the full story!

AITA for asking to be paid to babysit family

My aunt (F40s) got a divorce last year, and since then I (F21) regularly babysit my cousins (M4, F6, and M10).

Regularly meaning I stay over every other weekend and come over all Wednesday afternoons.

So, I’ve babysat a lot for free.

For her, being paid was never an option she’d considered.

And honestly, I haven’t needed the money, which is why I haven’t asked for it — I’m just kinda helping out.

My aunt would babysit me too when I was a kid, and I doubt she was charging anyone for it.

But when her aunt asked her to take on even more, an innocent joke caused some tension.

However, it’s just been a lot for a long time, and she recently asked if I can do Mondays as well.

So I half-jokingly said she’d better start paying me then.

She’s of course mad and offended that I would ask that when she never did, but honestly, I do think it’s reasonable to ask to be paid at this point.

AITA?

It’s always tough when kindness begins to feel like an obligation.

Let’s let Reddit weigh in.

This commenter affirms this young woman’s suspicion that her aunt is asking just a bit too much of her.

Her aunt needs to understand that this isn’t just some small one-off favor anymore.

This commenter has a bone to pick with the aunt’s logic.

Make no mistake: This is definitely a job she could (and should) be getting paid for.

Her aunt’s reaction made it clear just how unbalanced things had become.

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.