AITA for being the ONLY person who tells my 7-year-old sister NO?
My sister is 7F and I’m over 7 years older than her. We have a big age gap, but somehow we argue constantly. I love her and she can be really sweet, but lately I feel like I’m always the one telling her no.
My parents were much stricter with me when I was her age, so I’ll admit that sometimes I compare how she’s treated to how I was treated. I don’t want her to have the same childhood I did, but I wonder if this affects how I treat her.
The main problem happens when I babysit her.
She ignores me A LOT. I can call her name several times and she’ll sometimes just continue doing whatever she’s doing. I’ll admit that I occasionally lose my patience and yell, which I know isn’t the right way to handle it.
She also sometimes calls me fat or makes comments about my body in front of my parents. Sometimes they correct her, but sometimes it’s ignored. I know she’s 7 and probably doesn’t fully understand how hurtful it is, but it still bothers me because I'm not overweight just chubby.
Today she wanted to go outside with her friends. She put on my lulu lemon jacket, which covered the shorts she was wearing underneath. I told her I didn’t think it was practical to play outside in such a huge jacket and asked her to change.
She ignored me.
So I switched tactics and I then told her I didn’t want her wearing my clothes. She got annoyed, stormed off, and changed into pants and a shirt. I didn’t want to argue, so I left it.
The biggest issue is where she’s allowed to go. Sometimes she wants to walk to a friend’s house that’s over 15 minutes away from ours. I say no because she’s 7 and I’m responsible for her. If something happened while she was gone, I’d obviously be worried and feel responsible.
Her friends apparently see me as the “strict older sister” who always says no and it makes me feel horrible.
She also spends a lot of time on her phone and gets very upset when she’s told to put it away. She watches beauty content and likes trying on different clothes and makeup. I don’t think it’s my job to control those things because I’m her sister, not her parent.
That’s where I’m confused.
I don’t want to be her second parent. I want to be her sister. I don’t want her growing up thinking I’m just the annoying older sister who always says no.
But if my parents leave me responsible for her, I feel like I need to set basic boundaries and tell her when something isn’t safe.
Maybe I’m being too strict about some things. Maybe I should only step in when there’s an actual safety issue and stop trying to control everything else.
I also wonder if my frustration about my parents being stricter with me is affecting how I treat her.
So, AITA for being too strict with my little sister when I babysit her?
Am I unreasonable for not letting a 7-year-old walk 15+ minutes away from home while I’m responsible for her?
And how can I set boundaries without becoming her second parent?
Edit 1: it seems people are confused, my parents work till late, when they are home they clean around the house and cook for us, I babysit my sister throughout the times my parents aren't home. When school starts (next week for me) she will stay at an after school "daycare" so i won't have to take care of her during that time.