'Ma’am, I’m on the clock, I’m not a babysitter': Work-from-home data analyst refuses to babysit his neighbor's 13-year-old daughter during work hours, so the mom reports him to the HOA

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Oct 19, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

According to this local Karen, when you work from home, that must mean that you're available for babysitting 24/7. As any WFH employee knows, just because you're at home in your PJs doesn't mean that you're not incredibly busy with work-related tasks. 

After asking her neighbor if he could babysit her 13-year-old, this Karen couldn't fathom any reason her neighbor would decline. Knowing he had important meetings on Zoom and a busy workload for the day, the WFH employee declined, saying he was busy at work. However, this Karen wouldn't take no for an answer, and she insisted, haughtily claiming that he's "just sitting around at home anyway," why can't he watch her daughter? But this guy wouldn't let her push him around. 

Alas, that resulted in a swift report to the HOA board, and the HOA president shaking his head at yet another silly complaint from the neighborhood Karen. Perhaps on her own work time, she can do some research for some good, local babysitters who nanny for a living, instead of pestering her neighbors with other jobs. 

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  • 01
    Man working from home on his laptop
    via fizkes

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    My neighbor tried to get me to 'babysit' her 13-year-old because I work from home
    via Ok_Classroom_1192
  • 03
    I (30M) work remotely as a data analyst. My office setup faces the street. My neighbor, who has a 13- year-old daughter, saw me one day and asked what I do. I told her I work full-time from home.
    via Ok_Classroom_1192
  • 04
    Next week, she comes over asking if her daughter can "hang at my place after school" for a few hours because she "doesn't trust her home alone yet." I told her, "Sorry, no. I'm working."
    via Ok_Classroom_1192
  • 05
    Young girl looking sad out the window
    via fizkes

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 06
    She said, "But you're home. You can just keep an eye on her. She's quiet." I said, "Ma'am, I'm on the clock. I'm not a babysitter."
    via Ok_Classroom_1192
  • 07
    She got offended and said, "You must not like kids." I told her it's not about liking kids, it's about not getting fired.
    via Ok_Classroom_1192
  • 08
    Two days later, I get an email from my building's HOA. Apparently, she complained that I'm "unneighborly" and "refused to support the community."
    via Ok_Classroom_1192
  • 09
    The HOA president literally laughed on the phone and said, "Yeah, she's filed three complaints this month. One about her mailman whistling." Now I just keep my blinds closed.
    via Ok_Classroom_1192
  • 10
    Perfect-Working6480 ⚫ People like that hear 'work from home' and think it means 'available for unpaid labor 24/7!
    via Perfect-Working6480
  • 11
    scubaian ⚫ don't get why after all this time some people still don't get that working from home is working.... but from home. You know the ones that don't get it are the ones that would abuse it the worst.
    via scubaian
  • 12
    Icy Okra_5677. 13 and can't stay by herself for a few hours? At that age, I was getting home from school and starting dinner because mom was still at work
    via Icy Okra_5677
  • 13
    chuckinhoutex Let me see, you're asking me for a favor but you refuse to hear that "no" is an answer. That means you aren't asking but actually demanding. That makes this easy. I set a hard boundary on demands. Demands get permanent "No." so this is resolved, it's never going to happen.
    via chuckinhoutex
  • 14
    AikoG84 You should get window covers that make your window only one way visible. That way you can get your voew and they can't see you.
    via AikoG84

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family drama work from home neighbors babysitter employee neighborhood work working babysitting karens in the wild karen entitled people
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