There’s a long history of daughters being volunteered for childcare duties that sons somehow never get assigned.

So when a high schooler trying to apply for college was made the default daily babysitter for her young stepbrother without compensation or acknowledgment, she eventually stopped going above and beyond and started doing the bare minimum.

The boy’s kindergarten teacher noticed before the parents did.

You’ll want to keep reading for this one.

AITA for doing the bare minimum babysitting because my mom and stepdad expect me to do it for free?

I am 17 and in school. My mom married a guy who has a three-year-old son. I also have a twin brother who is 17.

I feel like I’ve become the babysitter for my stepbrother because I’m the girl of the family. My brother does football and never has to babysit.

She’s already gotten another job outside of the home, but her parents still seem intent on piling on even more.

I had a job at a summer camp taking care of kids for some extra money this summer, and now my mom and stepdad expect me to babysit this kid for free whenever it’s just us at home.

She gave it her best at first, despite her already busy schedule.

At first I tried really hard — making him good food, playing outside, and helping him with learning to read. Keeping him busy and playing together.

But it was hard because I’m in school and trying to get into college for next year. I could only study or do applications after his bedtime, and I was never getting enough sleep.

The resentment towards her mother kept growing and growing.

I got angry at my mom for making me the babysitter every day while she, her husband, and my brother weren’t doing enough.

But her mom always managed to have a guilt trip handy.

She had so many excuses — her and my stepdad working, my brother having football.

But I have hobbies too, and I can’t do them because I’ve become momma #2. Really momma #1, because I spend way more time babysitting than anyone else.

Her mom doesn’t seem to care at all how the incessant babysitting has impacted her schedule.

My mom wouldn’t let me go out after school and leave my stepbrother alone after preschool. I have to pick him up every day when it ends on my walk home.

I can’t join the school play because of it.

Now the teen has decided she can’t keep giving so much of her energy to a job she’s not even getting paid for.

So I’ve stopped being a real good babysitter. I’ll do the bare minimum to keep him safe and nothing else.

No more games or reading — I do my own homework instead.

Her sibling is still cared for, of course, but not in the same way.

I keep him quiet with kids’ YouTube, naps, or whatever. I don’t cook much beyond sandwiches and reheated leftovers, and I leave him alone to eat or not eat instead of giving in to picky eating.

This seems to have impacted his academic performance — and his overall behavior.

After a while of that, he stopped talking as much. His kindergarten teacher said something about his language learning regressing instead of improving.

He’s been acting up more around my mom and stepdad, but he doesn’t tantrum around me anymore because I just leave him alone to scream it out until he tires himself out.

Her on the other hand?

I’m doing way better in school and I’m finally able to get enough sleep, but the rest of the family is stressed a lot because of his behavioral problems that started coming up after I stopped playing momma.

AITA for stepping back and doing just the minimum so my stepbrother eats and doesn’t get hurt?

It sounds like it’s time for the actual parents to step up and do some parenting.

What did Reddit have to say?

This user shares some wise words of advice.

They also advise she work hard to find another place to live.

What’s happening here just isn’t right.

She has a life outside of home and her parents need to accept that.

You can’t just offload your parenting responsibilities onto a teenager, no matter how capable she might be.

At a certain point, this teenager needs to make sure she puts her future first.

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.