Hey! So burner account, even though I’m sure neither of them will ever use Reddit. But I (23) was left babysitting for my brothers (32, his wife 29) 4 kids (five on the weekend all under the age of 10) while they left on what had originally planned to be a four day trip for my SIL to graduate college. (April 22nd-April 26th were the agreed upon days). I had agreed to these specific days six months ago, and had agreed to do it unpaid.
about a week before I was supposed to come in, my SIL asked me to come in two days early on that Sunday to “get on the kid’s schedule“ which turned out to be a ruse to get me to watch the kids those two days as well. I had plans but I agreed to come in early anyways.
they left for their trip and I had assumed they would be back by Monday the 27th at the latest (traffic and everything due to their long drive). on Monday they asked if I could get the kids on the bus for school Tuesday (the 28th) because they weren’t sure if they’d feel up to it when they got back. I agreed but said that I would have to leave directly after that because I had a job I had to go do an estimate for (I’m a landscaper/weedeater)
well Monday night they left for home, they gave me an ETA of 11:15 am after I had asked (more than once) for them to be home before noon, as I had to meet up with the homeowner at noon that day.
11:15 came and went, my ride home arrived at 11:30, then noon came, then one o’clock came, then it was almost two when I decided to get ready to leave. I had called both parents six times each and the calls rang through to no answer. I left them with the other adult that lives with my brother, an adult that has watched the kids many MANY times, who even had permission to watch the kids WHILE I was there because I had to go to the ER. (I will say that he is deaf, so I guess that does add a layer into it)
they were left with him for two hours when my brother and SIL finally got home after 4. (Over five hours later than when they said they’d be.)
this isn’t the first time they’ve done this exact situation to me, in fact it has happened every single time I have babysat for them whether it be for a few hours or a several day visit, they are always incredibly later than what they ever say they’ll be. this is just the first time I lost out on a large amount of income due to it, as this homehowners job for me would have been most of my summer funds, and he said he’s looking for someone else after this.
dont get me wrong, I know leaving the kids was not okay, but i waited and waited for them, and In their own words just a few days before “it takes five seconds to send a text”. i feel any other babysitter would have reacted much much worse than I did. and mind you I’ve watched these kids their whole lives and I’ve NEVER remotely done anything like this. No matter how long they took getting home. I never charge them for my services and then the one time I put my foot down I’m the bad guy.
he owned his own tree business just a few years ago, I feel if I would’ve lost him out of a job that was a substantial form of income we would be singing a completely different tune right now.
so basically I watched 4-5 kids all under all age 10 for six days completely for free when I had originally agreed to 4 days and I even showed up 2 whole days early, and it in turn it ruined a job opportunity I had planned that they knew about, and finally left after waiting hours and hours for them to come home.
anyways, please give me your real opinions, as I’m genuinely curious on if I’m the asshole here.