Watching over a child is quite a responsibility; not to mention it can get pretty tiring as well. That’s why not everyone is equally thrilled about looking after someone else’s kids, especially while on vacation.

Redditor u/No-Ride-Throwaway was far from thrilled when he was assigned the babysitting duties on his family vacation last year. He told the AITA community he had to look after his sister’s triplets, which is why this year he had a different arrangement planned for the family trip.

Bored Panda has reached out to the OP and he was kind enough to answer a few of our questions. You will find his thoughts in the text below.

Some people are not keen on looking after someone else’s kids on their vacation

Image credits: weerawatfoto (not the actual photo)

This young man wasn’t willing to go through another family vacation watching over his sister’s children

Image credits: marisap7 (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Ladanifer (not the actual photo)

Image credits: drazenphoto (not the actual photo)

“Sometimes the kettle just takes longer to boil over”

This wasn’t the first time the OP was left babysitting his sister’s kids during a family vacation. “Sometimes the kettle just takes longer to boil over,” he told Bored Panda, pointing out why he refused to do it again this year. He added that he feels more independent than he was a year prior, which is why he suggested a different arrangement for the family trip to his parents. He admitted to Bored Panda that he had mixed feelings about it: “My feelings at the time were a sort of mix of guilt and empowerment. But more so the empowerment after I was certain they had no leg to stand on.”

One child is often enough to have one’s hands full—not to mention three of them—which is why it’s understandable that the OP’s sister was looking for a helping hand. Pew Research Center revealed that the majority of parents say their role is a rewarding one (all or most of the time, with 53% of moms and dads affirming the former and 35%—the latter); however, nearly one fifth of them agree it can get pretty tiring as well.

There are multiple options parents can choose from when in need of a little help. Some seek assistance from friends and family, others turn to daycare providers and similar alternatives. Quite a few redditors in the comments suggested that the OP’s sister should hire a babysitter as well if she needs help with the boys instead of leaving her brother to look after them on their vacation.

Zippia revealed that there are over 48,000 nannies currently employed in the US. It also uncovered that paid childcare providers that parents have no previous relationship with make up nearly one fourth of home-based child care. Another quarter is made up by family members, friends, and other people the parents know, who are offered payment for looking after the kids.

Image credits: Keira Burton (not the actual photo)

Parents often seek help from friends and family when it comes to raising their kids

According to Pew Research Center, when it comes to raising kids, the vast majority of Americans receive support from friends and family in one way or another—44% affirm they receive a lot of it, while 39% agree to have some.

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Zippia pointed out that friends, family, and neighbors helping out as unpaid providers comprise the largest part of home-based child care (52%). They are representatives of the Family, Friend and Neighbor Care—also known as FFN caregivers—that help quite a few families take care of their little ones. (According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, roughly 33-53% of employed people’s kids under the age of 5 and 48-59% of their school-age children are looked after by FFN caregivers.)

The National Women’s Law Center revealed that grandparents comprise the vast majority (79%) of relative caregivers for children under six years of age. They are followed by aunts and uncles (13%) and other relatives (9%). Even though statistics show that family members agree to help their loved ones with raising children, that doesn’t mean all of them would at any given moment.

The OP wasn’t willing to spend another family vacation appointed as a free-of-charge nanny, especially since he expected to spend his time taking part in other activities. Be that as it may, Gitnux pointed out that multigenerational travel accounts for 15% of all leisure travel, which suggests that the OP might not be the only one watching over the kids while on a family vacation.

Image credits: Anna Shvets (not the actual photo)

The OP shared some more details in the comments

Redditors unanimously decided the man wasn’t being a jerk in this situation

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The author of the post provided a few updates after it blew up

Image credits: No-Ride-Throwaway

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