24-year-old sibling oversleeps, causing their brother to miss an important appointment, gets accused of being deliberately unhelpful: ‘I reminded him that he was 23’

Author image for Melissa Knudson
Melissa Knudson • Writer
Sep 23, 2026 7:15 AM EDT

How far are you supposed to go to help your younger sibling?

If you're the oldest in your family, you get it. Many responsibilities fall on your back, even when they are not really yours. Then, you grow up feeling like you have to be on top of everything and everyone all the time. Let's be clear: at some point, everyone must be responsible for their own actions and consequences.

That is exactly the case in this story. It all started with a simple, seemingly innocent request: can you please wake me up? A younger brother who is not great at time management or at remembering important things asks for their older sibling's help to remind him of his to-do list. At first glance, nothing too bizarre,but what happens when one little favour becomes routine? The 22-year-old sibling starts getting more and more used to having his personal alarm clock in the shape of his older sibling. Appointments had to be reminded, and every important event started with his sibling waking him up in the morning.

Things took a turn when the younger sibling asked for the usual favour again, but the older sibling overslept and didn't end up waking his brother up in time. The younger brother ended up missing the scheduled appointment. Furious, he blamed his sibling, saying that he messed up his appointment on purpose. Apparently, the meeting was quite relevant, which made the older siblings feel a little guilty. We get it, siblings help each other all the time, but blaming them for your own calendar conflicts seems a little extreme. 

When the older sibling took to the internet to figure out if he was in the wrong, the internet waited no time to take his side. Some of them related to the older sibling's feeling of having to organise everyone's lives, and some couldn't get past the younger sibling's actual age. No matter the case, we have to agree with the overall conclusion here. It is okay to help the ones you love when they ask you to, but not to become entirely responsible for their every move. Also, man, just put an alarm on your phone. We promise it works better than fighting with your older sibling. 

Advertisement
  • Man sleeping next to a clock.
    via via Getty Images (via GoodLifeStudio)

    Man sleeping next to a clock. 

    Stock photo unrelated. 

  • AITA for not being able to wake my brother up for his appointment?
    via WorkingRelevant9528
  • My brother's pretty upset because I stopped covering for his missed appointments.
    via WorkingRelevant9528
  • I'm 24 and my little brother is 22. We're close and live nearby, so I've helped him out a lot over the years.
    via WorkingRelevant9528
  • He tends to ask me to remind him about stuff since he claims he's terrible with dates. It's usually no big deal until recently when it became a more frequent request.
    via WorkingRelevant9528
  • A few months back he asked me to remind him about a mechanic's appointment I forgot and he ended up missing it. He was frustrated but I felt bad and apologized since I really had said I'd remind him.
    via WorkingRelevant9528
  • From that point on he leaned on me even more. I'd get texts like Remind me Friday morning or "Don't let me forget this Most of the time i did but there were occasions when I was busy and let it slip.
    via WorkingRelevant9528
  • Person using a tablet to organize a schedule.
    via via Getty Images (via Andrey Popov)

    Person using a tablet to organize a schedule. 

    Models for explanatory purposes only. 

  • Then just last week he had an important appointment he'd booked ages ago. The night before he told me to wake him up at 7:30 since he didn't trust his alarm to go off.
    via WorkingRelevant9528
  • I had to get up early for work the next day so I said I'd set an alarm too but couldn't promise I'd wake him if I slept through mine.
    via WorkingRelevant9528
  • He said that was totally fine. The next morning I overslept. That's when I found out he'd missed his appointment He instantly blamed me and insisted I should've made sure he got up because it was such a big deal.
    via WorkingRelevant9528
  • I reminded him that he was 23 and had known about it for weeks. He accused me of being deliberately unhelpful claiming that siblings should look out for each other.
    via WorkingRelevant9528
  • I felt guilty understanding he was stressed but I also made it clear I wasn't going to handle his schedule anymore.
    via WorkingRelevant9528
  • Now he hardly talks to me and says I'm acting unreasonable for not being there when he needed me.
    via WorkingRelevant9528
  • Man ignoring woman, while sitting on a couch.
    via Ilonakozhevnikova

    Man ignoring woman, while sitting on a couch. 

    Image depicted solely for explanatory purposes.

  • dudeyaaaas Holy co-dependency. Step away from the sibling. Healthy boundaries.
    via dudeyaaaas
  • Competitive-Place280 NTA he needs to grow up. You're not his mother and he's not a child
    via Competitive-Place280
  • xylvondor NTA. Shifting from doing a casual favor to being held entirely responsible for whether a grown adult wakes up on time is an unfair burden, and calling you "deliberately unhelpful" when you overslept yourself is ridiculous.
    via xylvondor
  • lightyana He's playing the victim and using you as an excuse to not take responsibility for his own actions or inactions.
    via lightyana
  • onegreatbroad He's a child. Quit enabling him.
    via onegreatbroad
  • mxe1138 NTA "siblings should look out for each other." So what has he ever done for you? If he wants a Personal Assistant he can employ and pay for one. You are not responsible for managing his incompetence.
    via mxe1138
  • xError404xx Send him a link to a calendar app.
    via xError404xx
  • One Clue 9999 Get him an Alexa she does all this for me. Yes Al is terrible but this is super helpful for reminders and alarms.
    via One_Clue_9999
  • Woman and man arguing.
    via via Pexels (via Timur Weber)

    Woman and man arguing.

    Model representation.

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

family drama calendar drama AITAH alarm clock time management siblings older sibling forgetful fighting siblings helping each other younger brother
Scroll Down For The Next Article