'Ready made nanny': Internet backs teenage girl who blasted parents for being 'sexist'
The internet is firmly on the side of the teenager, who is being forced to parent her little sister even as their parents are still alive. The scenario was discussed by the original poster, (OP), u/Imogee82 on Reddit's popular forum "Am I The A**hole." The post garnered more than 5K upvotes and 400 comments from fellow Redditors.
In the Reddit post titled "AITA for calling my parents sexist and telling them to blame themselves for the things they aren't happy about?," OP, 19, writes that she has two siblings, a brother, 18, and a sister, 12. She is very close to her brother and considers him her friend and ally, but with her little sister, she has a much more complicated relationship. She says that she was forced by her parents to be her caregiver. "I was expected to help feed her and calm her down before bed. I was told I needed to walk her to school once she started. If I was going to see friends she was always forced along."
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Her sister even called her 'mommy-sis' and 'sister-mom'
She further details how her brother was never expected to take up the role of the little sister's parent. "The more time she was pushed on me, the more she wanted me and the more my parents made me include her. They never expected that from my brother. Even told us to our faces that of course sisters will be closer and will take care of little sisters. That it's not a brother's job." OP felt like a 'single mom without childcare.' Her sister even called her 'mommy-sis' and would describe her as a 'sister-mom' to other people.
Things came to a head when she and her brother went on a weekend trip with some of their friends. She writes, "My parents found out and told me I should have taken my sister along and how awful it was that I was pulling away from my sister and spent far less time with her than I should be. They said they can clearly see I love my brother more and that's wrong. I snapped and told them they were sexist assholes for only expecting that kind of role from me and that if they want to blame anyone for the way things are with my sister and I, then they should blame themselves for forcing me to take care of her when I was just her sister, not her parent. They told me I was not the only kid ever asked to care about young siblings and am the asshole for blaming them. AITA?"
'Your parents have really failed at basic parenting'
Redditors almost unanimously branded the OP as NTA (Not The A**hole) in the scenario and blasted the parents for being downright abusive to her in the comments under the post. One user wrote, "NTA, and they're not really very good parents, why would 19 and 18 year old siblings want to take a 12 year old sibling with them and their age equivalent friend group?"
Another user commented, "NTA. Your parents have really failed at basic parenting. They pretty much forced you to take an adult’s role when you were just a child, and denied your sister having a normal sibling relationship with you. Also, did she even have a chance to make friends and be with children of her own age?"
A third user wrote, "NTA. You were a ready made nanny. Parents do ask older siblings to watch out for younger, it’s always been that way, and yes, historically it was more girls than boys because they helped on the farm or around the yard/house. But. Your parents sound lazy and just gave you the responsibility of raising your sister taking away your own childhood. I hope you can get over feelings of resentment towards her, it was your folks who were in the wrong. They are upset because now they have to take on the responsibility for her."
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