Calling someone lazy when they’re working 12 hour construction shifts six days a week takes a certain kind of audacity, and this stepmother had it in abundance.

A college student who funds his own education through physical labor, handles all his own household responsibilities, and spends what little free time he has either sleeping or in class was told by his father’s wife that he still wasn’t doing enough around the house.

It’s true his step mom does the vast majority of cooking, shopping, and running the family store, but he does plenty to contribute as well.

Now this student is caught between sticking up for his busy schedule and saving face with his stepmom.

You’ll want to keep reading for this one.

AITA for not putting in enough work around the house?

So I currently live with my father and his new wife, who he married last year.

I’m a 22-year-old part-time community college student who is paying for his own classes through a full-time construction laborer position that regularly has me working 12-hour shifts six to seven days a week.

He describes his weekly contributions around the house.

I pay for and cook my own meals, mow the lawn every week, and do my own laundry.

I also attend two classes during the semester, roughly eight to ten hours a week, plus management projects.

But this isn’t enough for his stepmother.

However, my new stepmother says I’m lazy and entitled because I don’t do more housework when I’m not at work.

She says that she regularly does so much more work than me since she’s always cleaning the floors and furniture, doing everyone else’s laundry for my two sisters and my father, cooking, and shopping.

Suddenly, it’s like a competition on who’s contributing more.

She also assists my father with his local store, which is open 48 hours a week, roughly about how often she is there.

She also does a lot of sewing, making items for craft shows.

She may do more that I don’t see, as I’m rarely around the house.

AITA?

It’s a lot of working being a college student, and this stepmom doesn’t seem to understand that.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a bus driver who is sick and tired of covering everyone else’s weekend shifts.

What did Reddit have to say?

This student has more than just household chores to worry about.

Maybe it’s time to start finding another place to live.

It’s better to approach this problem as a family instead of singling one person out.

Maybe this stepmom just needs to see the numbers on paper.

The stepmother isn’t wrong that she carries a heavy load around the house — she does. Cooking, laundry for four people, shopping, the store, the craft shows — that’s genuinely a lot.

But calling a college student who works 70 hours a week in construction lazy and entitled is a significant misread of the situation.

He’s not refusing to contribute, he’s just barely home long enough to see what needs doing.

The fix here isn’t for him to squeeze more chores into a schedule that already has very little room. It’s a family conversation about what contribution actually looks like when everyone’s workload is different.

Equal isn’t always the same as fair.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who wasn’t keen on contributing more to a coworker’s gift than originally planned.