We have all been there during the work-from-home era, trying to find a corner of the house that doesn’t involve a laundry pile or a screaming toddler in the background of a Zoom call. But one mom in Auckland is currently dealing with a full-blown sibling war because she decided to treat her home office situation like a legitimate business transaction. If you have ever wanted to see what happens when “fairness” meets “f*ck around and find out,” this story is the ultimate guide to parenting in the age of hybrid work.
The Original Poster (OP) recently moved her family to be closer to her aging parents, which already had the house vibes a bit shaky. Because she works a hybrid schedule and her own bedroom is basically a damp, uninsulated closet, she needed a place to set up her monitors and desk. Since she gets a $20-a-day allowance from her job for working from home, she did the logical thing: she asked her kids if she could use one of their rooms during school hours. Her 15-year-old son hit her with a “no way in h£ll,” but her 17-year-old daughter saw an opportunity and joked about charging rent.
Mom actually leaned into it. She offered her daughter the $60 a week she gets from her company in exchange for using the space while the kids are at school anyway. It’s a classic win-win situation. The daughter gets some extra cash for being flexible, and Mom gets a workspace that isn’t the kitchen table. But of course, the second the son realized his sister was suddenly flush with cash, he decided that “standing his ground” was a lot less fun than having an extra sixty bucks in his pocket.
Now, the son is absolutely livid. He is “p!ssed” that his sister is getting paid while he’s sitting there with nothing but his canteen money. He tried to play the “I hate this move” card, bringing up how much he misses his old friends, but Mom wasn’t having it. She reminded him that she offered him the exact same deal first and he told her to “get the f*ck out of his room.” It is the ultimate “play stupid games, win stupid prizes” moment, but in teenage form.
The house turned into a total battlefield. The son started calling his sister an “opportunistic b!tch,” and she fired back by calling him a “whiny little ahole.” It got so heated that Mom had to ship the son off to his grandparents’ house just to get some peace and quiet. But the drama didn’t stop at the front door. Even Grandma decided to weigh in, accusing Mom of favoritism and saying she should pay both kids equally. Luckily, Grandpa has some common sense and told the kid he was “sh!t out of luck.”
The audacity of a teenager to refuse a deal with a “h£ll no” and then cry “unfair” when someone else takes the contract is truly a work of art. The son wants all the privacy of his own room without any of the responsibility, but he also wants the paycheck that comes with the sacrifice. Life doesn’t work that way, and honestly, Mom is doing him a huge favor by teaching him that “no” has financial consequences before he hits the real world.
The extra context about the Auckland house makes this even more of a “tough luck” situation. Mom is literally sleeping in a damp, uninsulated room so her kids can have the better spaces, and the son still had the nerve to speak to her like sh!t. If she had forced her way into his room, he’d be complaining about her invading his privacy. Since she’s respecting his “no” and rewarding the child who was actually helpful, he’s complaining about the money. There is literally no winning with a teenager who thinks the world revolves around his bedroom door.
Grandma’s suggestion that Mom should pay them equally is a total b!tch move toward the daughter. Why should the sister have to share her hard-earned “rent” money with a brother who did absolutely nothing but complain? Paying them both would completely defeat the purpose of the incentive. It would teach the son that he can be as uncooperative as he wants and still get a payday. That isn’t parenting; that’s just funding a bratty lifestyle.
The daughter is 17 and likely looking toward her future. That $60 a week is a great way for her to save up for university or whatever comes next, and she’s earning it by letting her mom’s work equipment take up her space. The son is 15 and just learned a very expensive lesson in negotiation. If he wanted the money, he should have said yes when the offer was on the table. You can’t reject the work and then demand the salary.
The OP is wondering if she’s the ahole, but we are here to crown her the Queen of Logical Consequences. She gave both kids the same opportunity, respected the son’s boundaries, and rewarded the daughter’s flexibility. The son isn’t a victim of favoritism; he’s a victim of his own stubbornness. If he’s “sh!t out of luck,” it’s because he threw the luck out the window himself.
So, NTA (Not the Ahole). Mom should keep her office where it is, keep paying the daughter, and let the son sit in his “private” room and think about all the things he could have bought with sixty bucks. Maybe by next winter, he’ll realize that being a “team player” actually pays quite well.
What would you do if your kid told you to “get the f*ck out” of their room and then asked for a raise? Is this favoritism, or is this just a boss-level move by a WFH mom? Let us know in the comments if the son needs to apologize or if Grandma is right!