Unfortunately many older siblings wind up parenting their younger siblings when it’s a one parent household.

This reddit story is about one young woman doing just that who is about to leave for college.

How will she and her family survive the transition? Can she reclaim her life as a child in the family before she leaves?

Let’s check it out!

WIBTAH if I stopped parenting before I leave for college?

I know how the title sounds but I’m not a teen mom. I’m 18f and have essentially been acting as my younger siblings’ father for the past 3 years.

For context I’ve got 2 younger siblings and one older, but me and the 2 younger siblings still live at home. My parents aren’t together, my father is an emotionally unavailable narcissist so we live primarily with our mom.

She wants to help the family and take care of her siblings, but she also has to be therapist to mom.

And I’ve noticed that especially since our parents separated 3 years ago that I’m more like a father to my siblings than a sister. My mom works a lot but I feel like even when she is around I’m acting as a parent and almost a partner?

Like straight up if I don’t discipline my siblings, it doesn’t happen. If I don’t set rules about bedtime and other stuff like that, it doesn’t happened. If I don’t ask my siblings about homework or papers to be signed, it doesn’t happen.

I’ve also started to notice that I’m having to be there to take in my mom’s issues. Like I’m always sitting and listening to her complain about whatever there is for her to complain about, but especially my dad.

Now she is overwhelmed, trying to get herself ready for going off to college and continue parenting her siblings.

But this weekend I really think I’ve lost all my strength to continue like this. This was the last weekend I’d be spending with my mom before college. And it consisted of me parenting once again.

I had to remind my mom to register my siblings for school. I had to take my sister clothes shopping. I had to find out what supplies my siblings needed. I had to set a date to take both my siblings shopping for supplies, clothes, and shoes.

But I also had to buy stuff for my own dorm room and coordinate other stuff with my roommate. My mom tried to help find stuff but it feels like every time she mentioned college it was like an ice pick went straight in my head and I got so annoyed and shut her down.

And the final straw is her brother screaming at her about bedtime, woah.

But the real thing that set me off was my brother catching an attitude with me about what time he needed to go to bed about half an hour ago. He was screaming at me that he was allowed to stay up later than our mom told me he was and insisted during the screaming match that I needed to text and ask her to prove he was right.

And I don’t know what happened but something inside of me snapped. I’ve never been more enraged than I am now. I feel furious and upset and super overwhelmed so I said forget it and left to my room. I’m so done with this whole situation.

Here’s the part where I’m debating AITA, I want to just stop. I wanna resume my life as of 3 years ago and go back to acting as though my mom will parent her kids.

That means no more shopping for them, or waking them up for school, or fixing them meals, or giving my mom free therapy, or disciplining children that are not mine, or taking them to school, or putting them to bed at night.

So AITA if I gave my family a taste of what their life is gonna be after I leave for college in less than 2 weeks?

Let’s see what the reddit comments had to say about one.

This commenter can relate to being parentified.

This person thinks she should let them figure it out!

This redditor says, time to go start her own life.

Given everything she’s been carrying, do you think it’s time for her to step back and let her siblings and mom see what it’s like to do it on their own?

Family first, but not if it’s too hard on you.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.