Sister Refusing To Babysit in Exchange for Free Vacation Slammed: 'Unpaid'

A woman has been cheered for refusing to pay for her sister's vacation because she won't babysit.

In a post on Reddit, user u/Stock-Campaign8854 explained that her family were planning a two-week resort vacation.

Costing around $2,000 each, the poster explained that her 22-year-old sister Camila had just finished university and asked if she could have help paying for the trip.

"Camila called me last week to ask if we could pay for her ticket and accommodation—my parents would pay for food and activities," she said. "My husband and I can comfortably afford our family, but adding Camila would put financial pressure on us. I told her that I would discuss it with my husband and then I would call her."

After speaking with her husband, they came to an agreement—they would pay for her vacation ticket if she would babysit their children on some occasions.

"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," said the poster.

But when the couple suggested this offer to Camila, she was unimpressed.

"She replied 'Absolutely not.' So, I called her to ask why she was so against this arrangement, which I think benefits both of us," said the Redditor. Camila said that she felt she was being "manipulated into offering unpaid labor."

"Now she's incredibly mad at me. But now my mom is also angry with me because she wants to have a family vacation and she knows my husband and I do have the money to pay for Camila, and 'family helps family,' which I agree with, but I believe that help must be reciprocal and right now Camila is not reciprocating that help," said the poster.

Family arguments about money are not rare, from a mother-in-law refusing to pay toward family days to others wanting to disown their family over unfair money arrangements—it is often a topic that causes friction.

Therapist and relationship expert Rhian Kivits told Newsweek: "Our attitudes and behaviors around money tend to be influenced by our family patterns. Families often have shared values, habits and expectations of one another. When a family member goes against the status quo, that's when arguments tend to happen.

"In this case, it sounds like the younger sister broke the mold by saying she didn't want to agree to the babysitting. But it also sounds like the family's general pattern would be to help each other out—and so that's why there was also an unspoken expectation that the older sister and her partner would step up."

In more than 2,300 comments, Reddit users overwhelmingly sided with the poster and said that her sister was being unreasonable.

"Lol '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," said one commenter.

Another wrote: "Your sister is a piece of work, and spurning an incredibly generous offer. Her labor is far from 'unpaid.' Looking at your arrangement, you are asking for approximate 35 hours of labor in return for a $2,000 trip."

"It wasn't unreasonable for the woman to ask her sister to babysit—we could think of this as an 'energy exchange.' This works well so that the people involved feel that things are balanced and fair," said Kivits. "It's certainly not fair to expect one family member to bankroll others just because they have the resource. That attitude could lead to resentment and arguments. It could also make that family member feel disrespected and taken for granted."

Newsweek has reached out to u/Stock-Campaign8854 for comment. We were not able to verify the details of this case.

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