Man’s Sister Refuses to Babysit in Exchange for Paid Vacation

Reddit is backing a man who offered to pay for his younger sister’s expensive vacation in exchange for some babysitting. Unfortunately, his family doesn’t have his back.

The man explained his situation on Reddit, sharing that his family had booked a two-week stay at a nice resort for a much-needed family vacation.

“This will obviously be a bit expensive (at least [$2,000] per person, and that is an enormous amount of money in my currency),” he wrote in his post.

His younger sister, Camila, is an unemployed college student who is currently living with their parents as she focuses on school and looks for a full-time job. Since she couldn’t afford the price of the vacation, she asked her brother if he would pay for her.

“Camila called me last week to ask if we could pay for her ticket and accommodation (my parents would pay for food and activities),” the man wrote, explaining that while he and his husband can comfortably cover the cost for themselves and their two children, adding another person to their bill would stretch them financially.

However, they agreed to pay for her if she would help babysit their two children, who are 8 and 10, respectively.

“Of course, not every day and without notice, but at least twice a week for two hours for two months. She would basically be the replacement for our current babysitter,” the man shared, explaining how not having to pay their usual babysitter for that time period would offset the cost of his sister’s vacation.

Unfortunately, his sister didn’t see it that way.

“Anyway, I texted her basically saying what I just wrote, and she replied, ‘Absolutely not.’ So, I called her to ask why she was so against this arrangement, which I think benefits both of us: she gets to go on vacation, and we have a babysitter we trust and don’t spend more than our monthly budget,” he continued.

Camila responded by saying she felt manipulated and forced into unpaid labor.

“She also said that she’s way too busy with her last semester and finals,” the man wrote.

Still trying to solve the problem, he offered to let his sister do her “school stuff” at his home while she babysits, and reminded her that his kids are older and need very little supervision. Still, his sister refused and was furious.

When the man’s parents found out about the situation, they also became angry with him and urged him to pay for his sister because “family helps family.”

“I agree, but I believe that help must be reciprocal, and right now, Camila is not reciprocating that help. My brother and dad just want to settle this down. They are not taking sides,” he concluded.

Reddit users slammed the man’s younger sister in the comments section.

“‘Unpaid labor’?! Did she miss the part where her pay was a $2k holiday? This is a win-win for both of you. In fact, she comes out slightly more on top from the whole deal,” one person wrote.

“If she feels like she doesn’t have time right now due to her studies, she could negotiate. Maybe she could babysit after her intense study period is over or less often but during a longer time period. There could be room for negotiation, but it seems like she doesn’t want to reciprocate at all,” another commented.

“I did the math. That’s 2 hours of work twice a week for about eight weeks, so about 36 hours of work, rounding up. That works out to $55/hr if the pay is $2,000 worth of services/ goods. Sister is being unreasonable. She wants a handout, not a hand,” someone else weighed in.