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Saying “I can’t do that, but here’s what I can do” should count as help, but to entitled people, it doesn’t always land that way.

A woman’s friend, who skips daycare and struggles daily to balance work and kids, asked her to babysit two little ones during work hours.

Her own school pickup and her husband’s office day got in the way, so she suggested times before or after pickup and offered to rescue the situation in a real emergency.

The friend said it wasn’t an emergency, and proceeded to treat her scheduling clash like a personal failing.

After her friend refused to talk to her, she wondered if defending her schedule made her the AH

You’ll want to keep reading for this one.

AITA for not being able to babysit my friend’s kids during my work hours?

My friend has two kids, ages 1 and 3. I’ve only been around the 1-year-old a handful of times.

My friend, her husband, my husband, and I all work hybrid schedules.

We each work from home some days and go into the office a couple of days a week.

So soon her friend came to her with a request.

My friend recently asked if I could watch her two kids for half a weekday during working hours.

I told her that I couldn’t do the exact time she needed because my husband has to go into the office that day, and I need to pick up my 5-year-old from school at around the same time.

She tried to make a compromise, but her friend wasn’t having it.

I offered to watch the kids either before or after the school pickup if she could reschedule her work accordingly. I also told her that if it was an emergency, she could let me know, and I would try to figure something else out.

She responded that it wasn’t a medical emergency, but that both she and her husband need to be in the office on the same day.

Now she’s angry with me and isn’t talking to me.

AITAH?

This all escalated fast.

What did Reddit have to say about all this?

At the end of the day, it’s her friend’s kids, so it’s her friend’s responsibility to find appropriate care for them.

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The verdict is abundantly clear to this reader.

Friends don’t treat friends like this.

Work is work, and often you have to plan the rest of your life around it.

This woman answered a big ask with a real offer, but all her friend heard was the part that said no.

Watching a toddler and a one-year-old during work hours, with a school pickup and nap schedules in the middle, is a lot to promise someone.

Silence is a poor reply to a fair counteroffer. She did her part. The next move belongs to her friend.

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Author

Benjamin Cottrell

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.