There’s a big difference between asking a friend for a favor and demanding a favor from a friend.

When a single mom ditched her kids at school to leave town with her boyfriend and expected her friend to drop everything and cover it with 15 minutes notice, the friend said no.

But the epic guilt trip that followed was just as unhinged as the original request.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITAH for not taking my friends kids last minute

My friend is a single mom to 2 girls.

I take the older one (11 years old) from time to time as she always wants to come over and I love spending time with her.

The other one, however, is a bit more of a handful at times.

The younger one is 5 and autistic. I have taken her for a few hours but never overnight, as my house is not small child friendly or set up for a neurodivergent child — no gates, no special locks, sharp edges everywhere, etc.

I have 4 adults in my house, no kids.

So her friend soon came to her with a last-minute request.

She called me today at 3pm and asked me to pick them up from school — 45 minutes across the city — at 3:15pm. I told her I wasn’t off work until 6pm and also I can’t do a 45-minute drive in 15 minutes.

She said to make an excuse and leave work now.

And what would be so pressing that required her friend to make such a bold demand?

I asked what the emergency was and she said, “No emergency, my boyfriend wants to go out of town for the weekend and we are already heading out of the city, so just go get them.”

So she was honest with her friend.

I told her no. I am not leaving work, my house isn’t safe for the younger one, and neither of them would have clothes or anything else they need.

Her friend didn’t have a shred of sympathy.

She said to just buy the stuff to make it safe and buy them clothes, and hung up.

I called her back — no answer. Texted — no response.

The rest of her friend’s family doesn’t seem to understand or support her boundaries.

So I messaged her mom on Facebook and told her what was going on. She asked why I can’t just do this small favor.

I said, “I am an adult with bills to pay and can’t just leave work, and you have seen my house — it isn’t set up for small kids.”

She told me to “figure it out and go get them,” and hung up.

Now she’s just mad that everyone expects her to drop everything.

I am not leaving work. I texted my friend again and said I can’t take the kids this weekend — it’s Easter and I have plans with my family. Had she asked sooner, I could have taken the older one at least.

No response and no read receipts.

She’s starting to get pressured from outside sources too.

The school has called me and asked me to come get them. I told them I can’t, and they can’t get ahold of her either.

It is 5pm. I still have an hour of work left. Her mom refuses to go.

So AITA for not taking her kids last minute after being demanded — not asked — to drop everything?

It sounds like this “friend” has put her in a horrible situation.

What did Reddit have to say?

This user hopes the school takes the right steps to punish this parent’s negligence.

This commenter has some choice words for someone who would do this to their own kids.

This is pretty much a friendship-ending event.

Turns out “no” is a full sentence, even when the whole family shows up to argue otherwise.

Skipping town with your boyfriend is not a valid “emergency.”

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.