Teen Has Been Taking Care Of Her Special Needs Siblings For Years, So When Her Parents Ask Her To Do More She Finally Puts Her Foot Down

If your parents don’t let you be a kid when you’re a kid, you may want to break free when you’re 18.

This teen OP feels used and unappreciated and I don’t blame her!

Will the commenters support her decision? Let’s find out.

My parents have four kids. I’m (16m) the oldest and next is my brother Harry (13m) then my sister Jaz (11f) and then my youngest sister is Aimee (8f).

Harry and Jaz have autism. Harry and Jaz are in a special needs school, a private one, because my parents wanted the best chance for them and this place was highly recommended.

A tough situation when the system provides little support and parents have limited resources.

Both my parents work longer hours for this. And because of the longer hours they work and the after care they’re paying for Harry and Jaz, it has meant I needed to take on some more responsibility and especially with Aimee.

I take care of her every day after school until our parents come home.

That includes cooking and deep cleaning the kitchen after I finish making food for us so my parents can cook for Jaz and Harry and not risk any issues with the food, because both have highly sensitive taste buds and they have limited diets.

This puts things in a different light.

When Harry and Jaz go for respite or all day therapies, my parents make time for Aimee and just Aimee. They don’t want her to feel left behind or like she doesn’t matter.

I do not get the same attention.

I never did, even when I was younger and things were bad. Aimee was always the kid they prioritized time with when they had it.

And I had expectations put on me that I would do my best to give her a great childhood. They put a lot of that responsibility for that on my shoulders by the time I was just 11.

I’m also more responsible for keeping the house clean, because of my parents working hours.

Sometimes I’m the only one who cleans in a week and I used to try and get Aimee to help out with some light stuff and my parents told me to let her enjoy her childhood.

What teen wants to be a daycare and a housekeeper?

Recently my uncle and aunt died and my cousin, who also has autism, ended up in foster care.

My parents wanted to take him but they told me they would need me to step up and do more for us to make it work.

So what do they want? Me to take over all the cooking, for me to do the grocery shopping, but not with Aimee of course, and they want me to start adjusting to having three kids, two with special needs, at times.

That way they can take one kid at a time to their therapies and appointments.

I admire efforts to get control of your life!

It p***** me off because they also asked me to babysit all three special needs kids so they can make a bit more time for Aimee, because it will be hardest on her.

I was pissed off so I said sure, I’ll do it, but only until I’m 18 and then I’ll be done and they will never see me again.

My parents told me my anger was unwarranted and everyone has to make sacrifices when a family is dealing with this many special needs kids. AITA?

Here’s what commenters on Reddit had to say.

This commenter sees huge and unfair sacrifices.

Good point from this commenter. OP has allies.

This reader suggests a more aggressive approach.

This person finds this calculated and unfair.

This person is looking far into the future.

Lots of empathy for this teenager!

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.