Paying for a family vacation is generous, but tacking on unpaid babysitting duties after everyone has already committed is the part that tends to cause friction.

When a dad who was covering most of the costs for a ten-night Caribbean trip for ten people mentioned mid-planning that his adult kids would need to watch their siblings for two nights, his daughter said it felt less like a request and more like a condition.

Soon, loads of old family drama started bubbling to the surface.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for expecting my adult children to babysit while on vacation?

Next month, my family and I are going on a 10-night vacation to the Caribbean.

There are 10 of us altogether — myself, my eldest son (25) and his girlfriend, my eldest daughter (21) and her boyfriend, my three youngest kids (14M, 13F, 10M), my girlfriend, and her daughter (5).

He’s proud to have fully funded this vacation.

I’m paying for all the main expenses of the trip, minus the flights for my son, his girlfriend, and my daughter’s boyfriend.

Recently, we were discussing the itinerary of the vacation.

He has very particular expectations for this trip.

I’ve told the kids that half the nights would be family nights, but two nights of the vacation my adult kids and their partners can go and do their own thing.

I also told them that they would be babysitting two of the nights as well, so my girlfriend and I can spend some time together away from the kids.

There is specifically a day of the vacation I plan for the older kids to watch their siblings all day and night because I have plans for me and my girlfriend.

But here’s where the drama started.

My daughter wasn’t very happy when I mentioned this.

She accused me of being manipulative because I didn’t mention the babysitting request until now.

He’s quick to make an excuse for this.

I didn’t really think to mention it sooner because I didn’t think it would be an issue and thought it would probably be expected.

My daughter says she doesn’t mind babysitting but doesn’t like feeling like she’s been forced into it because I paid for her vacation.

Then more old wounds resurfaced.

She also brought up our last family vacation abroad back in 2019 — it was just me and the five kids — and claims she spent most of the vacation looking after her little siblings. She’s just worried the same thing will happen again.

I won’t lie — she was very helpful during that last vacation, as I was a single parent with 3 little kids.

I told her things are different now, so it won’t be like that last vacation.

AITA?

No one wants their vacation to have this much drama.

Reddit is sure to have some strong opinions.

Communication was the biggest issue here.

It’s clear to this user this father is just trying to evade responsibility.

No one wants an unexpected responsibility dropped on them like this.

There’s a lot of unfair assumptions here.

Real gifts don’t come with this many strings attached.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.