📝 AITI for not wanting to babysit my niece all day in lieu of her parents?

By Pure-Respect8476 • Score: 2 • April 18, 2025 7:23 PM


My brother and my sister in law have a two-year-old. She's adorable and I love playing with her, but for max 1-2 hours a day. Any more and I get overstimulated and exhausted and so stressed I could cry.

But her parents are so unreliable that they'll just drop her off with me (or my sister or mum) and not keep to their word about when they'll be back. They don't even spend the majority of the day with her, it's just us there. Though they're meant to be the primary caregivers.

We're all starting to feel resentful. The house is so loud. Messy. Which I have to clean up, because her parents NEVER clean the house. They're not making any money right now either. So they're here for free but not giving back in any way.

I know family is meant to support each other, but I didn't sign up to have a baby. They did. I'm not in a place in my life to be mothering, and on top of it all, I'm highly introverted, sensitive, and have chronic pain, so most days everyday life is hard for me even without a baby to take care of.

AITA? It's getting to the point where I'm going to have to leave the family house and spend my days in the library just so I can work in peace. I'm not making enough to move out yet either, and part of the reason I'm resentful is I'm meant to be working to make enough money to leave, but I can't because I'm always looking after my niece.

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