This Man Refused to Babysit His Roommate’s Child For the Second Time Due to How He Gets Paid
Babies look adorable, and looking at them can relieve stress. However, they can also tire you out — taking care of a baby is not a walk in the park. It’s not wise to leave them alone. Your full attention is essential, because they are susceptible to danger, and their basic needs must be given immediately. For this reason, a babysitter is necessary when you need to leave the house. They can be a relative, your neighbor, or you can hire someone who is under an agency.
The job of a babysitter is more challenging than it seems, especially when watching a child for the first time. When you still don’t know the baby’s personality and daily routine, babysitting will be exhausting. However, it also depends on the working hours — watching a child for eight hours straight can be draining. That’s why payment should be fair. It’s best to consider their hard work for hours and not base it on your relationship with the babysitter. If the person is your roommate, a $6 pizza is not reasonable after eight hours of babysitting.
Last_Chocolate had this problem with his roommate, who asked him to watch over their kid for a couple of hours. It was definitely alright for him until the roommate asked for an extension that later turned into eight hours. The roommate clearly disrespected OP’s time, even though he knows he also has a full-time job. OP explained, “I work a full-time, night shift job. The wife of the couple works at a restaurant. The husband is an online content-creator.” His roommate asked him to babysit the baby because he needed to finish some errands. Last_Chocolate only agreed because it was only for a couple of hours, and he still had some time to sleep before returning to work.
“Then the husband got home with what he felt was “proper payment” for watching his child: a $6 pizza from Little Ceasers. I essentially got paid 75 cents an hour for watching their child,” OP wrote. After the disrespect, the roommate still had the audacity to ask him to babysit for the second time. OP refused, and it made his roommate mad, which ended up in complaints. “I told him it’s not my child, and I was not going to watch someone else’s kid for almost nothing. He stormed out with his kid and said that if I need something from him, I’d better rethink about asking.”
Last_Chocolate shared updates and clarification on the edited part of his post. He mentioned that the wife was unaware of her husband’s actions since she was away because of work. She even agreed that her husband was clearly wrong for doing such an act. Redditors also shared the same opinion, and the post received 2.8k upvotes. “NTA. He can pay for an actual babysitter or he can pay you properly for the 8 hours you spent taking care of his child. Entitlement at its finest,” destroyerofspacetime commented.
Someone also suggested that OP should look for a new place to stay. OP replied, “I’ve been looking for a while. It’s just hard because I don’t live in a resort town, but the landlords here charge like it is one.” Hopefully, he can find his own place or a better roommate. Sharing a house with inconsiderate people can be as exhausting as babysitting. Everyone has errands and priorities — the roommate isn’t the only one with a lot on his hands to ask for an eight-hour extension. If you had a similar experience with OP, you can share your thoughts in the comment section. Babysitters should be appreciated, especially when they did a great job keeping the baby safe and well-cared for.
