19-year-old is being threatened with eviction by her work-from-home parents for refusing to provide full-time childcare for her toddler brother after her own exhausting days at college and work

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Sep 29, 2026 7:45 AM EDT

Nineteen years old and being told she is ungrateful for not wanting to raise her three-year-old brother while her parents work from home in the next room. 21st-century Cinderella?

She helped for years without complaining, grabbing clothes and making bottles when asked, but somewhere along the way the occasional favor became a full job description, with eviction as the consequence for refusing.

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  • 01

    "I’m becoming a third parent and it’s TIRING."

    Close-up of a young woman resting her face in one hand with a tired, subdued expression.
    via see plus

    College student tired of doing her parents' job

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

  • AITAH for telling my parents I don’t want to be the third parent anymore?

    New-Role3083

  • I’m using a throw away for this since both my parents use Reddit. I, F19 live with my parents M51 and F45 and my litte brother M3 and for the past 3 years from the day he was born I’ve constantly felt like I was the third parent. Don’t get me wrong, at first I loved helping out with small things like grabbing clothes or making bottles I never complained at all.

  • Yet, as of the past couple of months things have changed to the point where I’m becoming a third parent and it’s TIRING. For context, both parents work from home and I’m in college or at work for most of the week so when I get home at around 5 or 7pm I’m tired and just want to get extra work done or get things ready for tomorrow. For some reason although, instead of being given random tasks to help out with I’m now being given lists to do all to do with taking care of my brother and all responsibility has now been put on me.

  • 02

    "I thought it was a joke"

    Close-up portrait of a young woman with blue eyes and a subdued expression against a dark background.
    via see plus

    Exhausted young woman

    Representative only.

  • For example: “Diaper change, food, bath, brush hair, snack, dress for bed, diaper change,play with him, take him to bed” at first I thought it was a joke but it turns out they’re being completley serious and I’ve complied for months since they said if I don’t, I’ll be kicked out and now I’m far behind on college work.

  • I told them last night that I can’t do it anymore and I’m not a third parent and they’re home all day so I don’t understand why nearly all responsibility is pushed onto me when I’ve had a long day already. When I told them this although, they said that they’re too exhausted, I’m ungrateful for womanly life lessons, how I should be helping no matter what and how they’re the ones doing it all day so I’m there for the “night shift” while also threatening to kick me out if I don’t continue do help. So Reddit AITAH?

    New-Role3083

  • 03

    "At first I loved helping out with small things"

    Young woman looks upward with one hand at her neck looking desperate
    via Kylea Ann

    Pensive young woman

    Model portrayal.

  • The parents claim they're the exhausted ones despite being home all day with flexible schedules, while their daughter comes back from college and work at seven in the evening only to be handed a checklist of bedtime tasks that would exhaust a full-time nanny. 

    And when she says she can’t do this anymore, she gets lectured about womanly life lessons and told she’s selfish for wanting to focus on her education instead of providing free childcare. 21st-century Cinderella? Anyone else seeing this??

  • It’s never pretty when parents decide their comfort matters more than their child’s future, but the threats change this from a reasonable family request into something closer to well, you get it by now.

  • The person who’s been giving for years becomes the villain (or shall I say stepmother?) for setting a boundary. She was treated like a housemaid and taken for granted, and now she is expected to be available on demand or face homelessness.

  • The young woman is falling behind on college work because she is doing the job her parents are being paid to do from home. They have more capacity, more flexibility, and more control over their schedules, still, somehow, the teenager working and studying is held responsible.

  • Putting her foot down is the only reasonable ending here. I mean that or a fairy godmother, pumpkin, six mice, six lizards, and a prince.

    So we can all agree that shutting this whole thing down asap is the viable option.

  • 04
    New-Role3083 OP Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the advice y'all have given me I appreciate it so much. To answer some questions, I pay rent, I pay for my own food, I paid for tuition myself but I don't have health insurance since my parents stopped paying it when I turned 18. I do have somewhat of a plan
    via New-Role3083
  • 05
    to escape and never look back but please understand that there's a couple things holding me back. My brother is severely au tic, my parents don't understand au..sm and they think my brother has a sickness caused by the devil. I think if I left they wouldn't look
    via New-Role3083
  • 06
    after him properly the way they should. They also raised me in a household where women are servants to men and should only look pretty and be obedient. As much as I hate the thought of it all, sometimes I feel like it's what I'm born to do and that's how I should be and I know it's so very
    via New-Role3083
  • 07
    wrong. I don't have a bank account all money I have is physical and I've never been taught how to have a bank account. I didn't even know women could have bank accounts until 2023. I have my own car which my father paid for but I pay for gas etc. I won't have a car anymore the minute I get married
    via New-Role3083
  • 08
    since my father believes that the man should have all the money and the woman can only request money if needed. They don't know I have a job and I always
    via New-Role3083
  • 09
    have to say it's longer college days than they are to hide it. I know this is long but I hope this answers some of y'all's questions.
    via New-Role3083

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entitled parents mother cinderella parenting daughter Father
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