There’s more to family vacations than meets the eye. Interpersonal dynamics between siblings, kids, and parents all play their part in making or breaking the perfect holiday, whether it’s a beach getaway, a snowy trip to the ski slopes, or even a safari in the wild.
One woman’s family expects her to pay full price for sharing a room with her parents and to babysit their kids (all under 3 years old) while they party it up. Fed up and frustrated, she turned to netizens to ask if she’d be a jerk to bail on the holiday.
More info: Reddit
Family vacations are supposed to be a time for relaxing, but for this woman, they’re a nightmare
Image credits: Asad Photo Maldives / Pexels (not the actual photo)
The woman’s family expect her to pay full price for sharing a room with her folks
Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko / Pexels (not the actual photo)
On top of that, her siblings fully expect her to babysit their toddlers while they party it up
Image credits: Mikael Blomkvist / Pexels (not the actual photo)
The woman reveals that she bailed on the previous year’s vacation for these exact reasons
Image credits: td55478
Frustrated, the woman turned to netizens to ask if she’d be a jerk to extract herself from the holiday altogether
OP begins her story by telling the community that she’s the only single, childless person in her family. According to her, she and her extended family are planning a family vacation and discussing the costs and sleeping situations. As it turns out, she’d have to share a room with her parents but still pay full price for the room.
She says she doesn’t really mind sharing but would appreciate her own space. She goes on to add that, considering it’s just her and she won’t have her own room, she thinks it’s unfair to have to pay the same price as the other couples in the family. She further explains that for the price, she could have a nice and quiet solo vacation.
When OP confronted her family, they just told her, “That’s not how it works in the real world.” To add insult to injury, she knows she’s going to be stuck babysitting the kids. The poster adds that she works with kids and gets no paid time off, so it wouldn’t be much of a vacation for her.
To make matters worse, she says her siblings seem to think that she doesn’t need any time to relax, since she doesn’t have any kids of her own and, according to them, “We do it every day, it’s your turn.” OP says she struggles with chronic pain and gets overstimulated easily. For all these reasons, she skipped the last family holiday and is now asking netizens if she’d be a jerk to skip this one too.
From what she tells us in her post, it seems fair to say that some of her family members are acting highly entitled. While you’re expected to go the extra mile for family, fair is fair, and OP's clearly being taken advantage of. If you’ve ever been in a similar situation, you can probably relate. So how should she handle them? We went looking for answers.
Image credits: Denys Gromov / Pexels (not the actual photo)
In her article for UpJourney, Robby Salveron writes that navigating interactions with entitled people can be tricky—it’s a fine balance between maintaining personal peace and standing your ground.
According to Salveron, familial ties are not immune to entitled behaviors, which may include a family member who always insists on having things their way, or their inability to recognize and appreciate when you make sacrifices— basically taking your efforts for granted.
Salveron goes on to suggest strategies for dealing with an entitled person. Some of the most useful include establishing clear boundaries, keeping your emotions in check, using assertive communication, focusing on constructive communication, and even disengaging, if need be.
In his article for CNBC, Stefan Falk writes that we are all innately selfish to some degree. According to Falk, the real challenge is achieving a balance of “healthy selfishness” that allows you to become self-focused, instead of self-involved.
Based on her siblings’ behavior even before the holiday starts, it seems OP would be in for a less-than-desirable stay on this vacay. Perhaps she’s better off taking that solo trip far away from any demands or unfair treatment.
What would you do if you found yourself in OP’s shoes? Do you think she should protect her sanity and pull out, or try to set some boundaries with her pushy siblings? Let us know your opinion in the comments!
In the comments, readers swiftly concluded that bailing on the holiday wouldn’t be a jerk move and slammed her family for taking advantage of her
