AITAH for refusing to walk my new younger stepsiblings to school?
My dad remarried in November and now I (16M) have two stepsiblings (5 and 7) from his wife’s first marriage. When they and their mom moved in with my dad back in March of last year, I stopped going to his house because I would have needed to share a bedroom with the 5 year old. It upset my dad because I wasn’t willing to give the new stuff a shot but I told him I didn’t wanna share with a 5 year old every other week and they didn’t have another bedroom to give him or me. So there’s already some tension between the two of us.
A few weeks after they moved in my dad started talking about how they wanted the kids to walk to school and how my stepsiblings dad is disabled and could use help getting them to school. Then dad asked me directly if I would walk my stepsiblings to and from school every day and he said their dad already gave permission for me to pick them up from his house during his parenting time. I said no and I told my dad it was weird that he organized it all when he knew I wasn’t stepping forward to volunteer and should have figured I would say no.
He asked me a few more times before they got married and then in December him and his wife told me how important it was for them that the kids get help walking to school and if I wouldn’t walk them every day, then at least when her ex-husband has them because he can’t walk them and he doesn’t get to go out with them after school and they could do with the physical activity
. My dad’s wife told me they were my new siblings and how I could make their lives better and happier by showing up and giving them something to look forward to and she talked about her ex-husband’s health and how fragile it can be and the fact he simply can’t do some tasks and how she and my dad need to work so they can’t walk them. One of the times I was asked before my dad mentioned she had someone else to walk them on her time. So I told her to get the person who walks them to school when she can’t do it to do the same for her ex’s time.
She told me the person couldn’t do it every day and that I’m going in the same direction and it shouldn’t be a huge ask to help out my family. My dad said I was getting off on the wrong foot with the new family members and this could smooth it over. I told them my answer was and will always be no. Before school went back after Christmas they asked me again and my answer had not changed. My mom intervened and spoke to my dad on my behalf and tried to get him to back off but he only got mad that she let me avoid sharing a room and was now letting me avoid my job as an older brother. My dad also made it clear to me after that he’s disgusted by my unwillingness to bend and give this family a shot and he told me it’s clear when I won’t even do the simplest things.
AITAH?
