This is going to be sort of long, but I really could use some advice.My cousins are currently out of town and as such, their six children need watching. Last year, I was the one who watched them, but this year, my aunt (the children's grandma) is the primary babysitter. The kids are 16, 14, 12, 9, 4, and 3. My job from the get-go was to drive the oldest two to and from school since they go to a prep school 45 minutes from their house. From the start, it has been much more than that. I am the one helping the youngest two at dinner, giving them baths and getting them ready for bed. I'm the one helping the two middle kids with their homework, the one reminding them to do their chores, settling arguments, etc. I clean the house, encourage the kids to be kind to each other, and have worked with the youngest two on communicating better (if they don't like something, they immediately start crying).Then there's my aunt. Granted, she does cook dinner some nights and watch after the youngest two during the day, but when I'm around, I'm really the one getting stuff done. I'm frustrated by her, though, for quite a few reasons. One being that she hasn't been making the youngest two take naps. They have been an absolute emotional mess and I know it's because they aren't getting enough sleep. Second, my aunt mentioned the other day that what she has been feeding them for lunch is Nutella sandwiches. The 14 year old said she needed to give them fruits and veggies, and her response was, "Well, that's what makes them happy." So on top of not getting naps during the day, they aren't getting fed a nutritious lunch, and she wonders why they're in such a crappy mood all the time. My aunt is also very mean to the kids. In the past, when the 12 year old was having a panic attack, she told her to "get over it". The other day, one of the kids was sitting in his chair incorrectly and the 12yo told him to sit up straight and turn his chair in because it bugged her. To which my aunt replied, "Get a therapist and get over it." And, after the 12yo made the track team and wanted to call her parents to tell them, she was told by my aunt, "If your parents wanted to talk to you, don't you think they would call you?" She's also told the 14yo that if she didn't come back and babysit next year, it was specifically because of her (she told my aunt that she didn't need to take the 9yo to urgent care for his asthma because they had breathing treatments at home). She's been unreasonable in several other instances, including getting upset with the 9yo because he didn't understand when I was trying to explain a math concept to him - to the degree that she almost made him cry. Besides this, the oldest three have told me they do not like their grandma watching them, and they wish I would watch them in the future.My question with all of this is: should I talk to the parents when they get back? Should I encourage the kids to talk to their parents? My aunt isn't the most pleasant person by any means, and even I - at 23 years old - am made to feel like a child when she is around. It's been a taxing situation for everyone and I want to come up with a solution, if possible, without creating more issues. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2loeuZV
