Helping family can sometimes lead to unexpected misunderstandings.

In this story, a woman visited her cousin who was overwhelmed with five young kids and a messy house to manage.

So she offered to watch the children so her cousin could finally get some cleaning done.

But after the visit, her cousin was still visibly upset.

Read the full story below for all the details.

AITA for not cleaning my cousins house

My (33F) cousin (37F) has five kids under the age of 10. This includes an infant, as well as two toddlers.

We were quite close until she got married and moved away.

She moved back this year.

Her husband is extremely religious. I did not care to be around them as a couple. So I did not visit when they were in the other city.

This woman started visiting her cousin again.

We eventually lost contact.

She reached out to me and told me she was back. She asked me to visit her new home when I had time.

So I began visiting her.

I had been there maybe two times before this incident.

She noticed how overwhelmed her cousin was.

On my last visit, which was the third, the house was a mess. It was messy both times I was there before.

I did not care or comment because I understand why.

But while I was there, she kept complaining that she has no one to help her. She also said she is overwhelmed.

She asked if she needed any help from her.

So I asked her what she needed help with.

She said she cannot clean the house because she has no one to watch the kids. Her husband is impatient with the younger ones.

So I said I could watch them while she cleans.

She said thanks and began cleaning.

She played with her cousin’s kids and put them to bed.

I played with the kids. I fed them and put them to sleep.

She even commented on being surprised at how much they like me.

By the time she was done cleaning, she looked visibly upset.

I did not pay too much attention to it.

By the way, her husband was there the whole time.

Apparently, what she did wasn’t enough…

After I left, she sent me a long text explaining why she was upset.

She said it was kind of selfish of me not to help her with the cleaning.

She said I knew she was tired and never gets a break.

She said what she needed was someone to help with the cleaning.

Now, I’m confused. Was I wrong for not offering to clean the house?

Wow, talk about being grateful!

If she actually wanted help cleaning the house, she probably needed to say that directly instead of expecting her to read between the lines.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman whose family says they support her art career, but they still don’t want to pay her for product.

Let’s read the responses of other people on Reddit to this story.

This user shares their personal thoughts.

This person sides with OP.

Here’s a valid point from this person.

Here’s a straightforward response.

Finally, short and simple.

Sometimes, you lend a hand… and they still want the whole arm.