A 16-year-old boy with six siblings had a negative reaction to his parents announcing they were expecting another baby: “Not again.”
In a post shared to Reddit, the anonymous teen says he and his siblings (ages 16, 13, 10, 8, 6 and 4) recently learned that their parents were once again expecting.
“They only ever intended to have two kids,” the boy writes of his parents, adding that they “don’t have great jobs.”
“We never had much space in our house to begin with and now we’re all crammed in,” he writes.
According to the boy, times have been so tough that he got a job at age 13 to pay for items he needed, like a laptop.
Hands touching pregnant stomach.
Getty
“The weight of being the oldest is already a lot and I have paid for stuff before,” he writes. “I babysit so my parents can work nights or get a break. I take care of the house most days so they can focus on earning money. But it’s a lot and we’re really too big of a family for what we can actually afford.”
After his youngest brother was born, the teen writes that he began to “think about my future.”
“I’d love to learn to cook better and work in a restaurant. Not college exactly because we could never afford it and my grades aren’t good enough,” he adds.
Cut to August 2024, when his parents “sat us down and told us they’re having another baby and Mom is like 14 weeks pregnant.”
“My siblings were mostly surprised but me? I said ‘not again,’ ” he writes. “I think I even cried a little which caught me off guard because I’m not a crier usually.”
His parents then told the teen to “check his attitude,” and not to focus on the negative.
“I know people say that having money isn’t as important as long as you have a loving family and maybe that’s true for some people. But mine feel like a weight I have to carry and not something I’m blessed with,” he writes, adding that his family often feels like “a burden.”
In response, commenters on Reddit have by and large sided with the teen, with one writing, “Here are 3 parents in this household and two of them are acting very irresponsible, which is increasing the workload of parent number 3.”
Another suggested that the boy leave his family home as soon as he turns 18. “Make a plan. Keep it secret. Do not tell anyone in your family. Get your own bank account if you can,” the person added.
Still many others suggested the boy not discount college, recommending he look into financial aid and scholarship programs. “Honestly with your income you can probably get grants and scholarships,” wrote one commenter. “Those aren’t just reserved for kids with good grades. They are there for kids in your exact situation. There is hope and help out there.”
