When people repeatedly do things out of the kindness of their hearts, others might make using their help a habit. That’s what happened to the redditor u/Soggy-Golf9150, who opened up to the AITAH community about having to look after her neighbors’ daughter time and again.
The daughter is in her late twenties-early thirties and has special needs, which is why she needs supervision. However, instead of finding someone to care for her, the young woman’s parents rely on their neighbor to do that. Scroll down to find the full story.
Bored Panda has reached out to the OP and they were kind enough to answer a few of our questions. You will find their thoughts in the text below.
Repeatedly helping others might lead to them taking advantage of certain situations
Image credits: Wavebreakmedia (not the actual photo)
This person had to repeatedly look after their neighbor’s special needs daughter
Image credits: valeriygoncharukphoto (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Pavel Danilyuk (not the actual photo)
Image credits: seventyfourimages (not the actual photo)
Credits: Soggy-Golf9510
It all started as a one-time favor a couple of years ago
The OP told Bored Panda that it all started two years ago. “It was supposed to be a one-time thing. The parents had an event and they had hired a sitter, who then canceled at the last minute and they asked me to help for the evening. The daughter has been coming over since. The frequency in which she comes over varies, sometimes not at all to multiple times a week.”
According to the ‘Caregiving in the U.S. 2020’ report, roughly 53 million Americans provided unpaid care to an adult or a child with special needs in 2020—a noticeable increase from 43.5 million in 2015. Out of them, roughly 19% cared for a person over 18 years of age. The data also revealed that 6% of unpaid caregivers were taking care of an adult child and as much as 10% of them helped out their friends or neighbors.
Assisting friends and neighbors with childcare is not an uncommon phenomenon. That is why quite a lot of children are raised with the help of Family, Friend and Neighbor (FNN) Care, which is arguably the most common type of non-parental child care in the US. However, FNN caregivers agree to take on the responsibility themselves, unlike the OP, who wasn’t even asked to look after their neighbor’s daughter, nor had the proper training to do so.
Image credits: Liza Summer (not the actual photo)
Proper training can help ensure the safety of both the caregiver and the person they’re looking after
The ‘Caregiving in the U.S. 2020’ report also revealed that 38% of surveyed people admit that respite care would be helpful; however, only 14% of families seek it. The OP shared that their neighbors wouldn’t seek professional assistance because it was too expensive or they wouldn’t get it as Mary is known to get violent. However, the latter is why the redditor was unwilling to look after their neighbor’s daughter any longer themselves, as they were worried about their own safety.
“What upsets me the most is that the parents never ask me if I can watch their daughter, they just leave her and they do so knowing that she has a history of violence, and that I’m not a licensed or trained caregiver,” the OP told Bored Panda.
Essential Skills Training and Recruitment pointed out that proper training ensures the safety of the caregiver and the person they support likewise. It allows the caregiver to identify and manage potential risks and hazards, as they learn about safety protocols, first aid, emergency procedures, and situation control. The OP has never undergone such training, which is one of the reasons some redditors suggested they should inform certain institutions about the situation.
Image credits: Ivan Samkov (not the actual photo)
The OP provided more details in the comment section
Redditors shared their thoughts and advice in the comments as well
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