There is a universal law in the world of babysitting that stands above all others. If you hire someone to watch your children, you feed them. It does not matter if you hire a professional nanny or the teenager down the street, providing snacks is part of the social contract. But apparently, one aunt missed that memo entirely. A single mom on Reddit is currently feuding with her sister after her teenage daughter was slapped with a bill for eating leftovers while watching her cousins.
The OP (Original Poster) explains that her seventeen-year-old daughter, Carly, has a pretty sweet arrangement with her aunt. Carly babysits her two younger cousins on weekends so the adults can have a date night. In exchange, she gets a bit of cash to fund her Starbucks addiction. It is a win-win situation. The kids love their older cousin, the parents get a night off, and Carly learns some responsibility without the stress of a grill station at a fast-food joint.
Everything was going smoothly until one weekend. Carly went over to babysit as usual. While she was there, she spotted some leftover birthday cake in the kitchen. It was a fancy, custom-made lemon curd cake from a party earlier that month. Let us pause there for a second. That cake was not fresh. Carly, being a teenager with a stomach of steel, ate two slices.
You would think the aunt would be happy someone finally ate the expensive dessert that the younger kids ignored. Instead, she called the OP in a rage. She claimed Carly should have asked for permission before helping herself to the “expensive” cake. The OP apologized and promised to speak to her daughter about manners, which is a fair and measured response. But the aunt was not looking for an apology. She was looking for a payout.
The sister demanded compensation. She claimed the cake cost €70 originally, and therefore, the OP owed her €20 for the two slices Carly consumed. The OP thought it was a joke at first because who charges family for leftovers? She even tried to lighten the mood by pointing out the cake was likely stale given how long ago the birthday was. The sister was not amused. She doubled down, insisting on the cash.
The OP refused to pay. She told her sister flat out that she wasn’t handing over €20 for old cake that was probably destined for the trash anyway. The sister is now calling the OP “inconsiderate” and accusing the daughter of theft, while the OP thinks the whole situation is petty.
Let’s be real here. If you are paying a teenager a flat rate of €30 to €40 to watch two children for four hours, you are getting a bargain. The least you can do is let them raid the fridge. Trying to recoup the cost of a birthday party by charging the help for eating the crumbs is a level of cheap that is hard to comprehend.
Also, we need to talk about the math. If the whole cake cost €70, asking for €20 for two slices implies this was either a very small cake or the aunt has no concept of depreciation. We are talking about perishable goods that had been sitting out for far longer than any reasonable person would consider “fresh.” Carly did not eat a gourmet meal; she acted as a human garbage disposal for food that was well past its prime.
The OP is absolutely right to stand her ground. This isn’t about the money; it is about the principle. You don’t nickel and dime family members who are doing you a favor, especially not over baked goods. If the aunt wants to run her house like a hotel with a minibar, she needs to start paying professional nanny rates.
So, is the OP the ahole? Not even a little bit. Her sister is being absurdly petty. Maybe next time Carly goes over, she should bring her own snacks and a lockbox for her earnings, just in case the aunt tries to charge her for using the electricity.
What would you do if a family member sent you a bill for the food your child ate? Would you pay up to keep the peace, or would you laugh in their face? Let us know in the comments if you think the aunt is being ridiculous!
Don’t ever babysit for her again. Holy crap 💩
€20 for two pieces of 2 week old stale cake. No one ate it at the party, & obviously no one has been eating it since, if there’s enough left for 2 or more pieces. Absolutely not, €20 for stale cake, your sister is out of her mind.. your daughter can get other baby sitting jobs,
cake usually has a use by date of 5-7 days from the date it’s baked.
a small claims court would determine that the cake had no value because it was past its use by date.