As my parents get older, I got out of my way to do everything I can to help them out.

Let me carry that!

I’ll lift that!

I’ll take the dog for a walk in the intense summer heat!

Whatever they need…for the most part.

But I think we can all agree that it can also get old when your constantly being called upon for tasks and favors.

The guy who wrote this story is fed up with bowing to his dad’s demands and now he wants to put an end to it.

Check out what he had to say and see what you think.

AITA for refusing to mow my dad’s lawn?

“My dad (71M) and his wife (69F) are very much upper middle-class. They have a decently sized villa but spend most of the summer at their summer house about an hour’s drive outside the city.

They’re both retired, but my dad gets about double my salary through his pension, (+hers on top) and they have decent savings, so they’re not struggling by any means.

I’m in my early forties (42M) and more squarely middle class myself.

I have what I need and I’m able to do some saving, but I’m by no means rich. I live in a small apartment with a small loan and I’ve tried to make sure that I have as little upkeep as possible, (no lawn, no pets, few expenses, things like that) so that I’m free to do what I want when I want to.

We also live in Scandinavia, if that helps, since there of course are cultural differences from country to country.

Anyway, while they’re at the summer house I usually drop by the villa once a week to get the mail and water the plants, since I’m the last of four brothers who still live in the area. Sometimes I drop by more often if they’re waiting for a package.

I’ve also forwarded mail sometimes, like when they ordered a new Visa card recently. No worries there.

Even this helpful fella has his limits…

Where I draw the line is mowing their lawn while I’m there.

They have a decently sized lawn with several different areas, and it’s a hassle to mow it since their mower is pretty bad. It’s one of those old gas-powered ones you walk behind.

The front wheels turn by themselves so long as you hold a lever in place, but it’s so old and weak that the engine cuts off if it hits a patch with too much grass while the lever is held. So it’s a constant balancing game to avoid it stopping.

This sounds pretty annoying…

I usually have to restart it maybe five times or more before I’m done, and the balancing game of keeping it going means that I have to push it manually a lot.

It takes about an hour to mow everything I’d say, and I’m usually soaked with sweat by the time I’m done. I realize of course that with them being in their early 70s it would be even harder on them, but they can afford a new mower to make it easier or to hire someone to do it for them.

They also manage to do it themselves fine whenever they’re home.

These folks just don’t get it…

The last drop was last weekend when they “reminded me” four days in a row that I should mow the lawn, which just feels excessive. I reluctantly did it, even though I had a busy schedule.

But then they stopped by the villa the day after anyway, so why ask me to do it?

I’ve never been good at saying no, or putting up boundaries, and I usually like to help. But I can’t stand being taken for granted and feeling exploited. It feels kind of petty to say no, but I have my own life and my own issues to deal with.

It sounds like he needs to learn to stand up for himself.

I’ve been working on myself recently and I’ll be refusing to do it the next time they ask, which will probably be in a week or two.

Had I still lived there that would be one thing, but I moved out more than 20 years ago.

AITA for refusing to mow their lawn?”

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man whose celebratory post-grad school vacation is being ruined by his family’s insistence he’s being lazy.

Reddit users spoke up.

This person shared their thoughts.

Another individual said he’s NTA.

This reader weighed in.

Another person weighed in.

And this Reddit user had a lot to say.

It sounds like this guy has gone above and beyond for his dad…

But everyone has their limit, right?

Maybe he and and his old man can come to some kind of agreement that works for both of them…and where there are no hard feelings.

Good luck to them!

This guy needs to grow a backbone and learn to say NO.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a stepmom who says stepson isn’t doing enough, despite the fact that he’s working 12-hour shifts to pay for his own college.