Single mom defends 17-year-old daughter from aunt's "petty" cake request: '[I] made it clear I'm not giving her money'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 27, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

You don't always need to be paid back for everything in life: sometimes, you can just let something go for the good of your relationship. I think many friendships operate this way. You buy your friends some drinks one night, then they pay for the Uber ride home. Or you offer to pay for dinner, and the next time, they treat you to a home-cooked meal. If you're constantly bugging people for money that they owe you, especially if it's small amounts you're being stingy over, it may leave a bad taste in some people's mouths. When you Venmo request someone send you $3 for their portion of a meal tip, it makes you wonder if they're currently low on cash, or if they're just always side-eyeing you, calculating how much you owe them. 

On the other hand, if you share an expensive food with someone, like a cake that costs roughly $90, maybe you should be charging them by the slice. That's a costly dish! No doubt this 17-year-old would've chosen something else to snack on if she knew just how much it would cost her. And as her mom shared, it's also causing some issues in the family. 

Next, read about this CFO who got his expensive Corvette towed in a case of "parking justice." 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10486692352
    via Oleg Ivanov For Unsplash+

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

  • 02
    AITA for refusing to pay for cake slices that my teenage daughter ate?
    via u/Jaded-Band-5692
  • 03
    I (f38) am a single mom with my teenage daughter, Carly (f17). My sister (f36) lives nearby with her husband and two kids, (f9 and m7). Carly sometimes babysits her cousins on the weekends so that my sister and BIL can go out, usually for 3-4 hours. In exchange, my sister gives her €30-€40, cash in hand.
    via u/Jaded-Band-5692
  • 04
    Me and my sister do not make Carly babysit, she volunteers to. She likes having the extra money to fund her Starbucks addiction without a part-time job in fast food or retail, plus the kids love getting to see her. I'm glad that she's getting to learn responsibility. I think it's a win all around.
    via u/Jaded-Band-5692
  • 05
    Last weekend there was a problem. A couple hours after Carly came home from babysitting, my sister calls me. It was my niece's birthday 2ish weeks ago, and there was some leftover birthday cake in their kitchen. It was a custom-made fancy lemon curd cake and I remember at the party a lot of the kids didn't want to eat it so a lot was leftover. Whilst she was babysitting, Carly had eaten two slices.
    via u/Jaded-Band-5692
  • 06
    My sister said that she should've asked before helping herself to the cake, and that it was expensive. I apologised to my sister and told her that I would have a word with my daughter. She mentions again that the cake was custom-made and expensive, and says that we should be compensating her. At first I honestly thought she couldn't be serious, but she did want me to give her money because of the cake.
    via u/Jaded-Band-5692
  • 07
    I mentioned that surely the cake is going bad soon if it isn't. already stale (I said this light- heartedly trying to lighten the mood) but made it clear IM NOT GIVING HER MONEY. She says she paid €70 for the cake and she expects me to give her €20. I told her I'm not doing that.
    via u/Jaded-Band-5692
  • 08
    My sister says I'm being inconsiderate, and that my daughter ate the slices without permission. I feel like she is being petty, and what difference would it have made if all of it got eaten last weekend or at the birthday party? AITA for refusing to pay her for the cake?
    via u/Jaded-Band-5692
  • 09
    (1) I am refusing to compensate/pay my sister for birthday cake slices that my daughter ate that were in her kitchen (2) My daughter ate the cake slices without permission and it was a custom-made cake that was very expensive
    via u/Jaded-Band-5692
  • 10
    YouthNAsia63 Pay sis for the two slices of her fancy a cake, and tell your daughter she will not be babysitting her siblings. without full and comparable to other sitters compensation ever again. And tell her why. Your sis had the golden goose of babysitters, and she obviously had no idea how good she had it.
    via u/YouthNAsia63
  • 11
    Emphasis on had. If she wants to nickle and dime you, let's go And don't bother to give sister a heads up. She can find out your daughter will be charging her, oh, shall we say, 20 euro an hour? For every hour? Or whatever the going rate is, or she can scramble to find an alternate.
    via u/YouthNAsia63
  • 12
    Your daughter could make all kinds of money for her Starbucks addiction, working for somebody else. But the bargain sis had- ended when she expected you to fork over 20 euro for stale leftover cake. NTA
    via u/YouthNAsia63
  • 13
    Cheezburger Image 10486692608
    via Caitlyn de Wild on Unsplash+

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

  • 14
    Changed to NTA. The cake was being kept at room temperature in a bread box on the counter. After two weeks, it really wasn't even a viable edible item anymore, let alone one with monetary value. Your daughter is lucky she didn't get food poisoning.
    via u/oreganoca
  • 15
    INFO: where in the kitchen was the cake being kept? And was there any previous understanding in place about your daughter eating leftovers while she is babysitting?
    via u/oreganoca
  • 16
    Unless the cake was in the freezer, at two weeks old, it's well past the point at which it should be eaten by anyone and is a food safety hazard. Maybe some food safety education for all parties involved would be appropriate. If it was in the freezer, your daughter should pay for it. If it was frozen, it was clearly being saved for the future.
    via u/oreganoca
  • 17
    A NTA. Your sister is being extremely petty. She's upset because her niece, not a random person, ate 2 week old cake. 2 week old cake is garbage. Your daughter is family. Your sister should be happy that the cake didn't end up in the bin.
    via u/AdOne8433
  • 18
    She's has been getting discount baby-sitting from her niece. Tell her that based on her behavior, she's obviously looking for ways to find fault with her niece so she can steal back half her niece's pay. You trusted your sister with your child, to treat your daughter with fairness and respect. She failed that trust.
    via u/Jaded-Band-5692
  • 19
    Your daughter should never babysit for your sister again. If she does, it should be for €10 per hour per child, paid up front. Insist on a written contract that states what she's allowed to eat and drink. Is she allowed a drink of juice? Can she enjoy a share of something the kids are snacking on? If they have crisps, how much does each crisp cost?
    via u/AdOne8433
  • 20
    Your daughter made the mistake of believing that your sister is family. This is not how you treat family.
    via u/AdOne8433
  • 21
    StAlvis NTA It was my niece's birthday 2ish weeks ago, and there was some leftover birthday cake in their kitchen. That cake is STALE.
    via u/StAlvis
  • 22
    [deleted] NTA. Losing safe and reliable babysitting over two week old cake is a weird hill to di on. Your daughter has likely eaten there while babysitting and didn't expect a two week old cake that wasn't popular at the party would be a big deal.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 23
    Ask your daughter how she feels about it. If she wants to continue babysitting, have her deduct it from her next babysitting job. But you shouldn't pay her for the slices.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 24
    Cheezburger Image 10486693888
    via Anita Austvika For Unsplash+

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

  • 25
    Charlotte_Braun NTA. It's two weeks old, and the niece wasn't going to eat it. Chances are, Sis is kicking herself for spending so much/going so far out of her way for a cake her daughter didn't like. Carly brought attention to the fact that there was so much left over.
    via u/Charlotte_Braun
  • 26
    Also, it doesn't matter *now* how expensive it was to begin with. The cake is now a sunk cost; Sis is not going to recoup anything by letting it rot in the fridge.
    via u/Charlotte_Braun
  • 27
    ironchef8000 Was the cake from the wedding of King Edward VIII to Wallis Simpson, circa 1937? Did it cost $29,000? I'm calling your daughter Elaine from now on.
    via u/ironchef8000
  • 28
    That said, she's helpfully babysitting her cousins. It's leftover cake. If the parents didn't want her to touch it, they should've said something. Otherwise it's not beyond comprehension that a family member doing. a huge favor might have a snack. NTA
    via u/ironchef8000

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cake babysitter mother babysitting aunt daughter mom money single mom
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