Woman refuses to babysit after sister auctions off 4 hours of her time without permission for $210 at school fundraiser: ‘She literally auctioned me off as part of the package’

Author image for Cata Holmes
Cata Holmes • Writer
Sep 25, 2026 2:00 PM EDT

Since when does "whatever you need" include selling someone else's Saturday night?

Stories like this are really hard to swallow. And let's just say that having good intentions doesn't always come with a good outcome. Helping her sister with her kid's school fundraiser was an act of kindness and pure love, since events like this often involve a lot of preparation and time from the volunteers. She not only offered her time, but she also bought some stuff that was going to be sold later.

Now, she had in mind maybe working on setting up the event, looking after her niece and nephew, nothing more than that. The fundraiser went by, and everything was excellent. However, things totally changed the following weekend, when the woman received a text from a random number asking if she was going to be available for babysitting next Saturday.

She was confused and later realized that one of the prizes was a date night basket that included four hours of free babysitting by Aunt "Her". This meant that her sister had put her inside the prizes without telling her, and the whole thing was sold for $210 that were going to the school. So, essentially, she had to sacrifice a Saturday night for nothing.

Of course, we can imagine how upset she got, and she called her sister right away. She told her that this wasn't part of the agreement, and that she was not going to spend four hours looking after kids she had never met before. This caused a big issue with her sister, since she either needs to find someone willing to babysit those kids or tell the school she included something in the auction without actual permission.

To make things worse, her sister got mad because she embarrassed her and is forcing her to do it because the money went to the school, so it's not like these people can get it back. With situations like this, it's worth being more mindful and careful not only when offering to help with "whatever is needed, but also when volunteering our family members to do things they don't actually want to do.

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  • A woman reacts in frustration after discovering her sister volunteered four hours of her babysitting time for a school fundraiser.
    via Unsplash+ (via Getty Images)

    A woman reacts in frustration after discovering her sister volunteered four hours of her babysitting time for a school fundraiser.

    Representative only.

  • AITJ for refusing to babysit after my sister auctioned off 4 hours of my time at her kids school fundraiser?

    AITJ for refusing to babysit after my sister auctioned off 4 hours of my time at her kids school fundraiser?
    via Honest_Key4811
  • My sister has 2 kids in elementary school and their school does a silent auction fundraiser every year. A few weeks ago she asked if I could help with it and I said sure, whatever you need. I even had a little money sitting around so I told her I could chip in for
    via Honest_Key4811
  • supplies too if they needed it. I figured she meant setting stuff up, bringing food or watching my niece and nephew while she worked the event, something like that.
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  • Apparently she took "whatever you need" very literally.
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  • Last week I got a text from a number I didn't recognize that said "Hi! We won the date night basket. Would next Saturday work for you?"
    via Honest_Key4811
  • I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. I called my sister and she tells me one of the auction items was a date night package with a restaurant gift card, movie tickets, and "4 hours of babysitting by Aunt ME."
    via Honest_Key4811
  • She literally auctioned me off as part of the package.
    via Honest_Key4811
  • The family that won paid $210 for it. I asked her why she didn't ask me first and she said I already told her I'd help with the fundraiser and she knew I wouldn't mind because I babysit her kids all the time.
    via Honest_Key4811
  • A woman watches several children at their home.
    via Unsplash+ (via Andrej Lišakov)

    A woman watches several children at their home.

    Scene is illustrative and does not depict actual individuals or events.

  • I told her watching my own niece and nephew is not the same thing as going to some random family's house and watching kids I've never met for 4 hours.
    via Honest_Key4811
  • She said they're not random people because she knows the mom from school and that they're a really nice family.
    via Honest_Key4811
  • I still said no.
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  • Now there's apparently an issue because the family specifically bid on that basket because babysitting was included. My sister either has to find somebody else to do it or tell the PTA she included something in the auction without actually having permission.
    via Honest_Key4811
  • She keeps saying I embarrassed her and that I should just do it once since the money went to the school anyway.
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  • The part that's making me question myself is that I did technically tell her I'd help with whatever she needed. I just genuinely never thought that meant she could sell my Saturday night to somebody.
    via Honest_Key4811
  • Volunteers work at a community school fundraiser.
    via Unsplash+ (via Alba Calbetó)

    Volunteers work at a community school fundraiser.

    Not actual story subjects.

  • Natural_Peak_5587 Why isn't your sister babysitting for them?
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  • Known-Ability8050 Sister is the j . She knew what you meant. She can go do the babysitting. Her hubby can their kids.
    via Honest_Key4811
  • NotShockedFruitWeird NTJ. tell her to do the 4 hours of babysitting
    via Honest_Key4811
  • Boo-Boo97 H_I no, NTJ. Tell your sister to babysit if she knows the family. Assuming you would be okay babysitting a strangers kids is beyond absurd.
    via Honest_Key4811
  • TimeEmergency 7160 NTJ. I'd be ped too.
    via Honest_Key4811
  • roxinmyhead If you're feeling snarky, you could offer to watch your niece and nephew while she goes to babysit the auction winner's kids. Bwahahaha. That's about generous as you need to get, and that would be extremely generous.
    via Honest_Key4811
  • mzmm123 NTJ Let the sister do it. Her audacity in offering up YOUR time as a prize without even asking you...
    via Honest_Key4811

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school fundraiser school babysitting sister auction
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