Sure, roommates are great fun in your late teens and early twenties.

But as you grow up and potentially even settle down, it’s normal to want your own space.

And the couple in this story achieved that and were happy – until inflation meant having to take in a roommate once more.

But what they didn’t realise was that their roommate was going to make their lives more hectic than they were before.

Read on to find out what happened here.

AITA for being a mother to my roommate?

I am a 25-year-old woman with a male partner who is also 25.

Recently, we got a roommate because of inflation.

We have a three bedroom house (in a bad neighborhood – that’s how we afford it). We used to have our own separate office spaces for us, and our bedroom.

We’ve lived with this roommate once before (she’s a 24-year-old woman) and things WERE NOT how they are now.

Read on to find out how things have changed.

She went through a lot in the past year, a hallmark movie worth of awful things happened back to back. I don’t feel like it’s my story to share so I won’t, but you can imagine.

My partner and I thought it would be good for everyone to have her take one of the rooms.

A month after she moved in she was fired from her job for her attendance – and we were nothing but open arms to her.

We told her it sucks but it’s okay, we still care about her and she’s still welcome here, she just needs to make sure that she gets a new job ASAP and do DoorDash type things until she gets one.

But it didn’t pan out as they had hoped.

The worst part is every time we agree on something it seems like we’re on the same page until things just don’t happen, and behaviors don’t change.

It’s been almost two months and she still doesn’t have a job. I’m very aware that it’s an awful job market right now – but almost everyone in her life has talked with her about how what she’s doing isn’t okay.

I understand not wanting to work a bad job, but it’s just something to make money until she can find somewhere better.

It would be different if she was doing chores at home like she’s supposed to (we have a chore chart) or even going out and DoorDashing like she said she would, but none of that is happening.

And the situation just kept getting more concerning.

The only reason she was able to pay rent is bc she donated plasma and borrowed money from family.

Honestly at this point I’m mad but simultaneously very worried about her mental health.

I’ve struggled with depression/ADHD since I was about ten (it’s hereditary in both sides of my family, yay) so I like to think I’m about as understanding about mental health as they come.

I’ve made it a huge point to be gentle about these conversations I’ve had with her, as to not make her ashamed or unwelcome.

So she felt like she had little choice but to take action.

I’m genuinely considering reaching out to her mom/dad/partner and asking for help because this is just too much.

My partner is super non confrontational which doesn’t help, he won’t go out of his way to talk to her because he’s of the opinion that as long as she’s paying her bills he doesn’t care.

I thought I would agree with that, but I’ve found the emotional turmoil isn’t worth it. I feel like a mother to her.

I have to ask her multiple times to do the chores that need done even though she sits at home most days.

Let’s see how the roommate herself feels about things.

She told me that she knows it’s not true but feels like the world is out to get her and that she’s sorry she’s making it our problem.

I told her that it doesn’t feel like a genuine apology when it’s not the first time she’s said that, and since the last time she said it none of her behaviors have changed.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with not being okay with someone living in our house when they don’t work, cook, or clean.

AITA?

This woman is clearly working hard to be understanding about the unfortunate situation that her roommate has found herself in, and kudos to her for that.

But it’s understandable that she doesn’t want the extra load of having to take care of her roommate as if she were her child.

It would be something if she could see that her roommate was trying, but it really doesn’t seem like she is.

Let’s see what folks on Reddit thought about this.

This person agreed that reaching out to the roommate’s family would be a good idea.

However, others thought that her approach to the situation might actually be making her roommate’s mental health worse.

This Redditor, meanwhile, thought it would be better for all of them if she moved out.

Sure she is still paying the rent, thanks to help from her family – and that’s great, since they took in a roommate to help with finances.

But the truth is, they likely weren’t expecting to have to effectively parent another adult, and to do extra chores because of her.

Her mental health might be at an all time low, and this is worth empathising with.

But the strain that she’s putting on this woman and her boyfriend?

It’s too much.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.