Katharina Buczek
Every single year, this woman’s extended family organizes a big vacation, and for their most recent trip, they all decided to rent a huge beach house. Everyone was also supposed to chip in for the cost and help out with chores.
“I was really looking forward to it. Spending time with everyone, relaxing, and maybe even catching up on some much-needed rest,” she said.
Unfortunately, from the moment she showed up, she realized that wasn’t going to happen. Instead, it seemed like her role was pre-determined since she was expected to be the babysitter.
To be clear, she doesn’t have kids of her own, but practically everyone else in her family does. So, she somehow became the go-to person for childcare.
Whenever she’d try to sit down to read or simply relax, someone would ask her to watch their kids real quick. Meanwhile, the kid’s parent would run to the store, get a drink, or take a breather.
In the beginning, she didn’t mind lending a hand, but her responsibilities quickly increased. She spent full days chasing after toddlers at the beach and breaking up fights between siblings. Plus, she was forced to deal with tantrums while the kids’ parents were missing in action.
“And when I finally said I needed a break, I got guilt-tripped with comments like, ‘It’s not that hard,’ or, ‘You don’t understand because you don’t have kids,'” she revealed.
Still, she didn’t hit her breaking point until one of the mothers actually called her selfish for not wanting to help out anymore. That same evening, she decided to pack up all her things and leave.
Then, she texted her whole family, telling them that she felt more like “hired help” than a family member, and she needed a break, too.
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