Being neighborly doesn’t mean becoming someone’s unpaid babysitter.

What would you do if a neighbor expected you to watch their child for free every day just because you’re a stay at home mom?

This woman is in that exact situation, and the neighbor didn’t even ask, just told his son to go to her house.

Now she has had enough of it, but she’s not sure if she handled the situation correctly or not.

Check out the full story below.

AITA for telling my neighbor he can’t expect me to pick up and take care of his child everyday?

My neighbor lives beside us and has a 5-year-old little boy.

To put it nicely, he’s a handful.

This woman’s children and her neighbor’s son go to a summer program together.

He and my four kids are in a summer church program.

They are picked up in the morning, and then, a bus brings them home to drop them off.

They do outdoor activities, crafts, and also some religious activities.

The boy’s father would leave him with her without permission.

My neighbor is a single father (his wife died this year).

Well, lately within the week, he hasn’t been home when the kids get dropped off, and the little boy tells me that his dad told him to come home with me and my kids so he can play until he gets home.

She told him to ask first because they sometimes have other activities.

He never even asked me if this was okay.

It’s been 5 days of this now.

I have to take my kids to a dance practice tomorrow, so I told my neighbor when he picked up his son that he needs to ask first because I have things to do some evenings.

He told me I wasn’t being understanding of him and that he needed help because his wife died, that he had to work and I could watch him since I’m a stay-at-home mom.

She couldn’t look after his boy all the time.

I told him that I was trying to be helpful, but I couldn’t be expected to watch him every day because some evenings, we have prior engagements, and he needed to call a baby sitter.

He said he couldn’t afford one and that I’m putting him in a bind.

I apologized, but he’s angry and told his son that I just didn’t want him there and stormed off.

AITA?

Just because she lives next door doesn’t mean she has to babysit his son everyday for free!

Let’s read the reactions of other people to this story on Reddit.

This person gives their honest opinion.

Here’s another valid point.

Short and straightforward.

You owe him nothing, says this person.

And finally, another interesting insight from this user.

Offering help is different from being expected to carry someone else’s burden.

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.