Does family always come first, or are there exceptions to this rule?

Would you let a family member stay with you if they needed help?

What if the family member claimed they were going to “help,” but you knew it would actually create more work for you?

In this story, one Redditor had to draw boundaries when their stepmother’s injury led to her dad offering to help.

Read the story below for all the detias.

AITAH for telling my dad he can’t stay with us while we care for his wife after she broke her leg?

My stepmom (83F) broke her tibia.

They can’t do surgery on it so she has to be non-weight bearing for 6 weeks while it heals.

My dad (72M) and her live off-grid and when their home became overrun with rats, they moved into a fifth-wheel [camper] on their property.

Despite the rats, the stepmother seems healthy — she just needs to heal.

My stepmom is very healthy.

She basically takes care of my ADHD dad, while he is still working as an engineer (poor financial decisions, he can’t retire yet).

She grows her own garden and has lived off-grid since before she met my dad 30 years or so ago.

She can’t get in and out of the fifth wheel while being non-weight bearing, let alone get into the tiny bathroom.

Also, my dad can barely take care of himself, let alone care for her as she heals.

So, the OP decided to take matters into their own hands.

I (42F) offered for my stepmom to come to my house while she heals.

She is one of the most amazing people I have ever known in my life, and she’s been eager to spend time with my kids (7M, 4F).

I am a nurse, so I know how to care for her, and my husband is a stay-at-home dad who is also a really good caregiver.

I see this as a blessing in disguise, as who knows how much longer we will have with her, and we get to spend all this time with her.

And her history with their father is unforgettable.

Now, back to my dad.

My parents divorced when I was 7. As an adult, I can look back to the time while my dad was single and see a misogynistic jerk who, when my sister and I showed up for our scheduled time together, told us to get into kitchen and clean the dishes that had been rotting there for weeks to months.

He is a man that cannot function without a woman caring for him.

He’s chilled out a bit in his old age, but still cannot care for himself even though he is an able-bodied adult.

So, it was no surprise when the dad came a callin’.

My dad called me back after my offer and framed his idea this way: he doesn’t want my stepmom being a burden, so how about he come and stay with us, too?

I was straight up and told him he would absolutely make it more of a burden on us.

She didn’t mince words.

I told him that he wouldn’t be helping us with cooking, cleaning, running errands, or taking our kids to their daily activities.

Without that kind of help, he would be someone I would have to cook and clean afterwards and it would be too much, in addition to the care we would be giving his wife.

He can come and visit, stay the night or whatever, but absolutely could not stay here for upwards of 6 weeks.

He sounded hurt on the phone, but it’s the reality.

AITAH for telling him he can’t stay with us while we care for his wife?

Was this volunteer caregiver right to draw a line with their father?

Or is it strange that he’s not welcome? Let’s read the comments below.

Redditors had OPINIONS about those rats.

And they also guessed the future of the fifth wheel would be absolutely unbearable.

People also praised the OP on their kindness.

And finally, one Redditor said — karma.

This parent-of-two made sure their kindness wasn’t mistaken for weakness.

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.