Single dad ‘forces’ 18-year-old son to babysit when he asks for $100: ‘He’s acting like a spoiled brat’

This dad “forced” his teenage son to babysit his little sister in order to make money, instead of just giving him the cash for free, and his son was furious.

The single dad of two went on Reddit’s “Am I the A******” page to see if the internet felt he went over the line. 

The poster had a meeting on Saturday and his regular babysitter was out of town, so he asked his son, who is 18, to babysit his daughter, who is 11. His son had never babysat his sister, but the poster was out of other options. The dad offered his son $100 for 6 hours of babysitting, and all he had to do was make sure his sister was safe, and accept the food delivery that the dad would order straight to the front door. 

This sounds like a pretty solid deal, but the teenager refused. 

Thankfully, the Saturday meeting ended up being remote instead of in-person, so a babysitter wasn’t needed after all.

Later that week, the dad’s son knocked on his office door and asked him for money to take his girlfriend out on a date. The dad, seeing an opportunity to teach a valuable lesson, offered a deal

Realizing it had been a while since he had a day to himself, Dad figured he would take a Saturday to go fishing. 

“So I offered the exact same deal. $100 to look after [his sister] for the day,” said the Dad. “Otherwise, no money.” 

The son reluctantly agreed, but afterwards he was loudly complaining to his friends over the phone, to a point where his sister heard him and asked her dad why her brother doesn’t like her. Dad eventually considered doing a fun daddy/daughter day on Saturday instead, because his son was being such a “drama llama.” 

The dad turned to Reddit for a judgement call. Was he in the wrong for “forcing” his son to babysit instead of just giving him the $100? 

Most of the comments supported the dad, feeling that he made the right decision. 

“NTA – your son is acting out. $100 is so much money for such a small task honestly, he’s acting like a spoiled brat no offense. Your son is acting out,” said the top comment.

“While [his sister] isn’t his responsibility, his girlfriend and their date is not yours. He is 18. If he wants to treat his girlfriend, he needs to get a job,” said another practical user. 

The dad was quick to defend his son in the comments section, saying that the teen had a job, but lost it due to Covid-19. But regardless, he didn’t expect his son to react the way he did to the proposition. 

Other users thought that the dad should take the opportunity to have a fun bonding day with his daughter, regardless of the deal. 

The dad shared that a museum recently opened, so he figured he would take her there on Saturday instead of going fishing, which sounds like a great way to pivot the unideal situation into a fun activity.

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