Single mom forces homeschooled 14-year-old sister to watch her 1-year-old baby all day every day, only pays her $40 for 2 weeks of babysitting: 'I have to do school during the night.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Nov 15, 2025 8:00 PM EST

Nobody in this family is looking out for this girl.

One of the drawbacks of homeschooling is that there are very few, if any, non-family adults looking out for the well-being of homeschooled children. They might have some at their church or in extracurricular activities, but not the kinds of adults you see five times a week, like a teacher. You could argue that the same applies to public schools, but at least kids in public schools are not tasked with caring for a child all day, every day, instead of receiving an education.

Thousands of homeschooled kids across the world get an extensive and comprehensive education. Their parents are not the ones who need to be checked on, but there are a great many kids for whom "homeschooling" means getting absolutely no education because their parents are too lazy to exert the effort to teach them themselves or enroll them in school. Children in these circumstances might spend all day playing video games because they haven't been given any tasks to do, or the opposite could be true. They could be tasked with a myriad of duties that are totally age-inappropriate, such as caring for their younger siblings or their older siblings' kids, despite being children themselves. 

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  • A woman sitting in a high chair feeding a baby
    via Kateryna Hliznitsova (Unsplash+)

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

  • The teenage girl in this story is in desperate need of an adult who will look out for her best interests, but unfortunately, it doesn't seem like she has one. She's been tasked with taking care of her 1-year-old niece while the rest of her family is at work, so she can't do school during the day.

  • Am I the bad guy for not wanting to take care of my niece?

    I (14 f) have been babysitting my niece(1) for about three or four weeks now, maybe a month. By babysitting i mean all day until my sister(her mom) gets home and even then i hang out with her still, right now both my parents work from home but can't take care of her for a day, since they
    via u/TermCapital1407
  • are tangled up in work meetings. Sometimes my sister mil comes to take her for about half the week or just the weekend but when she's at my house im just taking care of her. I have to change her, feed her, entertain her. And it feels exhausting, both mentally and physically. my arms
    via u/TermCapital1407
  • A woman's arm
    via Hanen BOUBAHRI

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

  • hurt, my legs hurt everything hurts. I brought it up to my mom about feeling mentally exhausted, and she just said "yeah it gets like that" they gave me 100 dollars for helping out and are talking about giving me more money, but i don't want money. i want a break,just a nice day for myself. but i feel like it's selfish. AITAH?
    via u/TermCapital1407
  • UPDATE 1: i'm not sure how to explain this, but i just started crying infront of my dad about how i didn't want to take care of my niece, and he just said hed talk to my mom. before taking my niece and walking off. i wasn't expecting that but hey it's a win!(i think) but i'll update again with whatever happens. And thank you to the people who commented, it opened my eyes a bit.
    via u/TermCapital1407
  • UPDATE 2: Well guess who's back to taking care of her again? This guy! My sisters boyfriend got a job which is good but that means my niece is living with me now, and I have to take care of her.
    via u/TermCapital1407
  • A bartender stands with scissors at the bar
    via Maks Styazhkin

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

  • And yes while im doing homeschool. And the money my sister was gonna give me? She gave me like 40 bucks after I took care of my niece for almost 2 weeks, then took the 28 dollars I had left to go buy vapes or something, and said she'd pay me back, which she hasnt.
    via u/TermCapital1407
  • Senior Sentence_566 NTA You shouldn't be forced to care for her all the time she isn't your daughter. If your sister and partner can't care for her then they need to find alternative arrangements or daycare which would be much more than $100.
    via u/Senior_Sentence_566
  • TermCapital1407 OP my sister is single plus works super long hours, and the dad is coming soon to vist but he isn't moving in or anything which makes me the only free person
    via u/TermCapital1407
  • Dizbaz29 It's not your problem that your sister works long hours though. She needs to put her child in childcare, like the rest of us, not exploit other children
    via u/Dizbaz29
  • TermCapital1407 OP my parents and sister don't trust daycares
    via u/TermCapital1407
  • Dizbaz29 Still not your problem!
    via u/Dizbaz29
  • Senior_Sentence_566 Well then one of them needs to stop working to care for the child. Are you currently on break from school, what happens when you go back?
    via u/Senior_Sentence_566
  • TermCapital1407 OP going to be homeschooled and probably still stuck with the baby. my dad made a joke about how i'll have to do school during the night or when she's napping because i'll be busy with her all day
    via u/TermCapital1407
  • sewswell1955 This is not ok
    via u/sewswell1955

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childcare homeschooled family drama mother sisters reddit story babysitting homeschooling homeschool family sister reddit thread Reddit mom single mom
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