Parent refuses to watch 6, 5, 4, and 1-year-old kids for entitled friend: 'I told her it's not my job'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 12, 2025 11:00 AM EST

Parents of multiple children, I don't know how you do it. Watching a singular child can take up all of your energy. Add two or three more to the mix, and all bets are off. You find yourself letting the kids watch TV just so you can chase the baby around. Or you'll have to take the kids outside so they can burn off their extra energy, but you have to put the toddler in a harness backpack because you can't watch all the kids at one time. Parenting is never an easy job, but the more kids you have to watch at one time, the more insane you're going to feel. 

This person shared that they're in a community where they frequently babysit for their friends, but they keep ending up with 4 children on their hands at the same time. The ages are 6, 5, 4, and 1, but only the 6 and 1 year old are this person's kids. The other two are the children of a friend, who keeps sneaking away to work, leaving this person to babysit four children under 6 years old. 

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  • At that age, most of the kids are still in diapers, and the younger ones may still need help feeding themselves. You really can't leave kids unattended at that age, or else you'll come back to a Sharpie'd couch or a bag of flour coating the kitchen floor. They're just too much to handle, and this person is pushing back. 

    Up next, read about the woman who's been bugging her 26-year-old son to pick her own grandma name, though people keep telling her that “you won't really be able to control it.” 

  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10453274624
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    'AITA for refusing to watch someone's kids for 30 minutes when they went to the store?'

    I live in a little "community" of sorts. So, we have a shared driveway with 3 homes, including ours. One of the homes belongs to my husband's best friend and his wife and the other home belongs to the best friends mother. The homes are very close together but we have a bunch of yard and water front so it's not bad. Both me/my husband and my husband's buddy/wife have babies under the age of 1, and I also have a 6yo son.
    via u/Empty_Inevitable_808
  • 03
    Well, my husband's best friend hired one of their life long friends to build a deck on their home. They've been working on it for 3 days now. The guy they hired has two boys, 4 and 5, that he has been bringing with him when he works on the deck. I have never met this guy and only just met his kids 2 days ago and to say I'm
    via u/Empty_Inevitable_808
  • 04
    unimpressed would be an understatement. His kids act feral. The youngest sneezed directly in my babies face and snotted all over him. They don't wear shoes. They are dirty, scream constantly and don't listen at all unless their father yells at them (after speaking to them several times). Needless to say I have not been back outside when these kids are around. I'm all set.
    via u/Empty_Inevitable_808
  • 05
    Well, everyone was gone this morning, leaving me and the baby/my oldest son alone and the guy shows up to do more work, with his kids. I just stepped out to bring the trash out 40 or so minutes ago and this guy approaches me and asks me if I would watch his kids for "30 minutes max" so he could run to the hardware store and pick up something that he needed. He
    via u/Empty_Inevitable_808
  • 06
    said he didn't want to have to go back to his place and get his kids shoes because it would take too much time. I basically said "sorry but no" and left it at that. He just scowled and said "okay" and left with his kids. But I just got a call from my husband's friends wife asking me what happened and said that this guy was . |
    via u/Empty_Inevitable_808
  • 07
    told her he asked me to watch his kids and that I had said no. She paused for a second and then said "why couldn't you watch them for a minute? The hardware store is right down the street." So I told her it's not my job to watch someone else's kids and based off how those kids act, I'm not going to be in charge of them.
    via u/Empty_Inevitable_808
  • 08
    They don't listen and they are filthy. I wasn't about to hang out outside and there was no chance id allow them in my house. She said "okay it's no big deal, I was just wondering" but you can tell that she's pl ed off (because apparently the guy said he wasn't coming back today because he's "heated" and can't understand
    via u/Empty_Inevitable_808
  • 09
    why I'd say no, when apparently he would watch my kids if I asked). My husband is on my side and said "f that, those kids are rotten" but I do kind of feel bad, as the hardware store really is right up the street. AITA?
    via u/Empty_Inevitable_808
  • 10
    Cheezburger Image 10453274880
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 11

    This person has a good point...

    I. NTA - why are his kids even being brought to what could be a dangerous work site? What if they got hurt in those 30 minutes, fell of the half finished deck or whatever? Screw that. Also, how unprofessional is it that his temper meant he couldn't be bothered to come back to work. Childish.
    via u/lychigo

    What exactly was the dad's plan B if this parent didn't agree to watch the kids? Would he really have taken them to work with him? It says a lot about his parenting abilities that he would leave such a thing to chance, and leave his kids with someone who is unwillingly caring for them. 

  • 12
    pbgoddard So that wasn't a request. Seems it was a demand, or else I'll get p ed. And it's not "just watching" kids - you'd be responsible for their safety, any damage they may cause etc. You dodged a bullet there. That man needs to make sure HIS children have on shoes or what ever they need when he takes them to a work site.
    via u/pbgoddard
  • 13
    dncrmom NTA I would have asked your friend if the worker is insured & bonded because bringing a 4 & 5 yo to a waterfront job site without anyone watching them sounds like a huge liability for your friends. Zero chance any sane person would have watched his feral kids.
    via u/dncrmom
  • 14
    EmeraldSloth Re... NTA. You would be accepting responsibility for caring for children that can't be trusted to listen to you, and that's unsafe.
    via u/EmeraldSlothRevenge
  • 15
    b NTA I get he may not have someone to watch his kids but I don't understand the logic of bringing them without their shoes. A normal person would have their kids wear shoes and taken them to the store
    via u/bendy225

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childcare Babies aita kids work friends family children
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