Expecting a 17 year old to babysit 16 kids for free just because they’re family is a bold ask no matter how you frame it.

One teenager showed up to her cousin’s birthday party just wanting to have a good time, but the adults tried to sneak off to the creek by assuming she would stay and watch the kids.

So when she suggested they should at least pay her, the whole family lost their minds.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITAH for not wanting to babysit 16 kids for free?

So I (17F) went to my little cousin’s birthday (8F) and had a nice time.

She was wanting to have a sleepover with all of my younger cousins (all under the age of 11) and about four of her friends.

But the younger kids were starting to cramp the older kids’ style.

The thing is that equaled about 16 little kids, so I wasn’t planning to spend the night — neither were my other cousins (12-14).

We were going to go back to my house and watch scary movies so Poppy could have the birthday of her dreams.

Then the kids started to pressure her.

But about an hour into the birthday, all of the little kids came up to me and asked if I could spend the night too. I told them no because I already had plans, but they kept pushing.

Then some of the parents asked, and I told them the same thing.

The requests kept coming from all directions.

But then one of my cousins, Kay (Poppy’s stepsister), came up to me and asked me to spend the night.

I asked why, and she told me it was because her mom and all the other parents were wanting to go hang out at the creek.

She sees this as part of a troubling pattern with the parents.

(I have had some issues with her mom because I used to live with them, and Poppy’s parents used to dump their kids on me and run off for hours doing who knows what. Let’s just say I moved out sooner than they wanted me to.)

I decided to leave because the truth was out.

I said goodbye, gave everyone hugs, then left with my other cousins. No one even complained.

But the parents weren’t too happy with this decision.

The whole car ride my phone was blowing up, and when I got home I checked to see it was Poppy’s and Kay’s mom, Kelly, sending me voice memos screaming at me and angry texts. I ignored them and turned off any notifications from her.

Then she started to get other calls too.

But then all of my aunts and uncles started to call me.

I answered my Uncle Chris (Poppy’s dad) and he said I had bailed on the kids and that he and Kelly now didn’t have a date night with the rest of the family.

She points out that Kelly had blatantly lied to everyone, but he didn’t seem to care.

I asked him what he meant and he said that Kelly had told everyone I would watch the kids so they could all have fun. I told him I never said that and he just hung up on me.

I didn’t even say anything about spending the night with them — I had said quite the opposite all afternoon. Chris had even asked me if I was spending the night and I had told him no as well.

That’s when her family decided to take their disapproval to a whole new level.

My cousins and I had a good night, but I was rudely awakened the next morning with ice-cold water on my face. It was my Aunt Dawn and Uncle Heath standing over me, angry.

I got up and got changed before being yelled at for hours — not only by them, but by the rest of my family who were coming over to yell at me as well.

I didn’t snap, yell, cry, or laugh at the situation, even though it was incredibly stupid.

Finally, she got to tell her side of the story.

Then when I finally got a chance to talk, I told them that if they wanted me to watch their kids, each of them could have put a ten-dollar bill in my hand for each kid and I would have done it.

I’ve been taking care of their kids since I was 10, and I was not about to watch 15 kids with no help and no money, because they are not even mine to take care of.

They then continued to pull the tired old “family helps family” excuse.

I then sat back and looked at all their shocked faces. Then all of them yelled at me saying that they are family and it would be stupid for me to watch them for money.

I now feel bad because family means so much to me. But I don’t think it was wrong of me to ask for money to watch 16 kids.

I just don’t know what to do — I think I’ll apologize to them, but I need a second opinion.

AITAH?

Talk about a rude awakening.

What did Reddit make of this?

The adults in this story weren’t really acting much like adults.

This user encourages this teen to stand her ground.

Babysitting is a lot of responsibility.

Given this responsibility, she ought to be compensated.

Family means a lot, but it doesn’t excuse blatantly bad behavior.

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.