Just because something isn’t important to you doesn’t mean it’s not important to someone else. This is a concept we learn when we’re kids, but it takes some people a while to catch on. Our lives are separate from those of our peers, and what might matter to us might not mean as much to someone else, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t respect them nonetheless. You can’t just go around asking for favors for other people if it interferes with their priorities. Their lives are just as meaningful as yours. 

This can be a hard lesson to learn, though, for some family members who rely on other family members for childcare. You might be used to their kindness and expect them to dole it out all the time. But they’re not obligated to, even though it might leave you in a lurch. You’re the one who decided to have children, so you have to look after them. It’s not anyone else’s job, no matter how much it might feel like it. That’s what one aunt had to learn in this story.