Brother Says Sister ‘Never Respects His Time’ After He Refuses Last-Minute Babysitting Request

A man has turned to Reddit for advice after a family disagreement left him questioning whether he made the right call. In his post, he explains that his sister, Laura, asked him to watch her 3-year-old daughter, Mia, on short notice.

“Yesterday, she called me around 5 PM asking if I could watch Mia for the night because she had ‘something important’ to do,” he wrote. “I had plans I couldn’t cancel — work deadlines and a dinner I promised my girlfriend months ago.”

When he declined, tension quickly followed. According to him, Laura didn’t take the refusal well. “She got upset, started guilt-tripping me, saying I never spend time with Mia, and that I’m selfish for not helping family,” he shared, describing how the situation escalated.

He noted that this wasn’t the first time his sister had asked him to change his plans for her. “I’ve missed work, canceled plans, and rearranged my life more times than I can count for her, and it always feels like I’m being taken for granted,” he admitted.

Despite wanting to maintain peace, he still tried to find a middle ground. “I offered to help another day, when I’m free, but she just said, ‘It’s tonight or nothing,’ and then hung up,” he recalled.

The exchange left him feeling torn between family loyalty and personal responsibility. “Now I feel bad, like I’m the bad guy. But at the same time, I have responsibilities and a life outside of my family,” he explained.

Friends told him he did the right thing, though his parents disagreed, insisting that “family should always come first.”

Reddit users, however, largely sided with him. One commenter wrote, “Poor planning on her part does not consist of an emergency on your part. You’re not selfish for having your own commitments and needing to respond to those first.”

Another user pointed out the importance of respecting people’s time: “If she wanted a babysitter on speed dial, she should’ve booked you a month in advance. Life isn’t a last-minute buffet — you’ve got your own plate to fill.”

For the man, the experience served as a difficult but valuable reminder: sometimes, even family relationships require firm boundaries.