Having family around to help out with the kids is a wonderful blessing.

That is, until it turns into a forced obligation.

What would you do if your parents expected you to babysit for free, but you wanted to get a second job?

Would you do as your parents said, or would you choose to take the second job even if it meant they kicked you out?

The young woman in this story is contemplating what to do in this exact situation. Let’s read the whole story.

WIBTA if I get a second job?

I (18F) am graduating next week.

Because of this, my stepmom sees it as an opportunity to pick up more hours at work so I can babysit my younger siblings (ages 2, 5, 6, and 9).

This sounds horrible.

But they are genuinely horrible kids.

They have zero respect for me, and I’m not allowed to discipline them in the slightest no sending them to their rooms, no timeouts, and I can’t even take away their devices.

I have to call her or my dad, and all they do is tell the kids to stop, which they don’t.

It’s basically four horribly raised kids against me, and I don’t get anything out of it but a headache.

She has a plan.

I also work with my stepmom whenever I’m not babysitting, and we hardly ever get along.

It feels like the slightest things I do aggravate her.

Because of this, I’ve been looking for a second job to get away from the house.

My friend offered me the perfect opportunity: the opening shift at her job, which is from 11 to 4.

That would obviously clash with babysitting, but watching the kids isn’t my responsibility and they should know that.

Her stepmom keeps changing her mind.

When I asked my stepmom about the second job, she first said I could take it if I helped with the bills.

I said okay, which I guess threw her off, because she changed her mind.

She then said I couldn’t take it because I have to be home at 3 to watch the kids when she goes to work, and I need to keep Wednesdays free since she opens that day.

I didn’t text her back because it’s genuinely disheartening.

And now she’s stuck.

I’m trying to save for a car, and I plan to apply to airlines to become a flight attendant by the end of the year.

I’m not going to be here to watch the kids for the next five years. I have goals and a life of my own.

I’m scared that if I say no and still take the job, she’s going to kick me out like she did when I was 16, just because I couldn’t watch her kids while my aunt was taking me to Puerto Rico to see family.

Sometimes it feels like the only reason I’m here is to be a free, built-in babysitter.

So would I be in the wrong if I chose to take the second job regardless of her opinion?

She shouldn’t be forced to be the babysitter.

Let’s see what the comments have to say on Reddit:

That’s quite an age gap there.

People who double down on unsustainable systems are never in the right.

Pay up or shut up.

Her parents legally have no say in what she does.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.