When you’re a teenager, you cling to any opportunity to get a taste of the adult world. So when Reddit user SapphireJuice was offered a job — babysitting her cousin’s child — she quickly said yes.

However, she over-delivered — the teen had also cleaned the kitchen. And she did such a good job that her new employer devised a plan to take advantage of her willingness.

As SapphireJuice explained in her post on r/pettyrevenge, this went on for a while and probably would have continued if she hadn’t told her dad about her responsibilities.

While this teenager was babysitting her cousin’s child, she would find the kitchen too dirty to cook for him

Image credits: cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo)

Which may have been by design

Image credits: kryzhov / envato (not the actual photo)

Image source: SapphireJuice

The author of the post has remained close with her cousin

Image credits: Polina Tankilevitch / pexels (not the actual photo)

We got in touch with SapphireJuice and she was kind enough to have a little chat with us. “I would say the relationship I had with my cousin was and still is good,” the author of the post told Bored Panda. “She’s a great person overall and has helped me with my career over the years.”

“She did pay me to babysit. It was a fair deal at the time for babysitting, and she said the going rate at the time.”

While the woman’s post has become an instant classic on Reddit, garnering over 26K upvotes, it’s not that big of a hit within her inner circle yet. “[The story is] not well-known in the family. I think this is the first time we’ve ever told it. I was shocked it was so popular.” So thanks, Dad, for reminding everyone about it!

“He was very happy so many internet strangers liked his solution!” SapphireJuice added. “He doesn’t know what Reddit is, but he was happy to be so popular!”

It’s quite common to turn to those closest to you when you need help with your children. For example, 41% of parents say they’ve relied on a grandmother when unexpected childcare issues arose, according to a 2023 report by Fortune and The Harris Poll.

But we’ve seen time and time again that some people are willing to try anything to get their friends and family to provide them with free childcare. So it’s cool that SapphireJuice’s cousin was happy to compensate her fairly.

Abbey Sangmeister, who is a therapist, life coach, and founder of Evolving Whole, agrees that we can’t take our loved ones for granted in these situations. “You have to think about the financial implications of all involved,” she said. “The amount of hours, what is expected during that caregiving time — acknowledging there is labor involved in caring for children is the first step to having a successful relationship.”

And this case is an excellent example of that!

As her story went viral, the woman gave more information in the comments

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And people have been eagerly sharing their reactions

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