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When you’re at college, the summer break can feel like a great opportunity to rest, catch up with friends from home, go on vacation, and get cared for by your family again. And if you had parents who took care of the house, cooking, and laundry while you lived at home, going back to that situation can feel like a very welcome break after looking after yourself for the best part of a year.

But if you have lofty aspirations or come from a low-income family, your summers might look very different. If you want to be a doctor or a lawyer for example, you might spend your summer breaks volunteering or following an internship program that will help get vital skills and experience ready for your resume and future applications. Meanwhile, if your folks don’t have a lot of money, the break from college is a great opportunity to top up your funds by taking on some part-time work over the summer.

That’s exactly the situation the guy in this story is in – he sees the summer as a great opportunity to make some money to support him through college and maybe even purchase a car too. His mom, however, has other ideas.

Read on to find out how they’re clashing over summer.

AITA for working extra work shifts and hurting my mom’s feelings for thinking I don’t want to spend time with the family?

I (19, male) work about 36 hours a week and I am taking the summer off of school – I am also trying to save up for a car and pay off college fees

I’ve been talking to my boss about extra shifts, and she thinks it’s a great idea because they’ve been a bit understaffed lately.

So I took up extra two shifts, so now I work about almost 50 hours but not quite.

I get paid $10 an hour plus tips, so the money is pretty decent.

Let’s see how this is working out for him.

Now it’s been a few weeks since I started working these extra hours, and my mom is becoming concerned with all this time I spend away from home.

She came to me the other day crying because she thought she heard me talking to my friends about the real reason I work so much.

She thought I said, “the only reason I spend so much time at work is that I don’t want to spend time with my family or her especially” and I don’t remember ever saying that.

I’m just worried because now she’s not talking to me, my dad is upset with me for making her cry, and now I’m just really confused about what to do should I just leave it alone or should I cut my hours back and spend some time with her.

AITA?

Honestly, either his mom has misheard and is refusing to give him the benefit of the doubt, or she’s making things up to guilt trip him into staying home.

Either way, that’s not a sign of a healthy parent child relationship, and the fact that the dad is automatically taking the mom’s side just confirms that.

He’s working hard, as he is entitled to, and the way they are treating him is totally unfair.

Let’s see what folks on Reddit made of this.

This person thought that there was nothing wrong with him working extra hours.

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While others encouraged him not to change his hours unless he wanted to.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a niece who takes down her aunt’s legacy after she steals her entire inheritance.

Meanwhile, this Redditor thought that an open conversation with his parents was the best route forward.

Of course, if he hasn’t explained to his parents why he wants to work so many hours, they might be feeling concerned, or even a little confused. But if that was the case, all his mom needed to do was ask – there was no need at all to eavesdrop and then get upset about what she thought she might have heard, without giving him a chance to speak. Maybe she’s worried, maybe she is just not coping so well with her kid growing up and becoming an independent adult – and this is why sitting down with his mom and dad as three adults for an honest conversation is a good way forward.

At least, it will give him a chance to offer his reasonable explanation and allow his mom to express any concerns with everyone being on the same page – and if his parents continue not to believe him and to guilt trip him, he knows where he stands. And if that is the case, that’s even more reason to work those extra hours, so that he can get out of there quicker.

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Author

Kyra Piperides

Kyra Piperides, PhD | Contributing Science Writer

Dr. Kyra Piperides is a contributing writer for TwistedSifter, specializing in Science & Discovery. Holding a PhD in English with a dedicated focus on the intersections of science, politics, and literature, she brings over 12 years of professional writing and editorial expertise to her reporting.

Kyra possesses a highly authoritative background in academic publishing, having served as the editor of an academic journal for three years. She is also the published author of two books and numerous research-driven articles. At TwistedSifter, she leverages her rigorous academic background to translate complex scientific concepts, global tech innovations, and environmental breakthroughs into highly engaging, accessible narratives for a mainstream audience.

Based in the UK, Kyra is an avid backpacker who spends her free time immersing herself in different cultures across distant shores—a passion that brings a rich, global perspective to her writing about Earth and nature.

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