She Told Her Sister She’d Help With the School Fundraiser, and Found Out Her Sister Auctioned Off A Night of Her Babysitting to Strangers for $210

A woman offered to help her sister with a school fundraiser and even volunteered some money for supplies. She didn’t find out until the auction was over that her sister had sold four hours of her babysitting to a family she’d never met.

The winning bidders paid $210 for a package that included her time. Now her sister wants her to show up and babysit, and she’s refusing to do it.

A School Fundraiser

Her sister has two kids in elementary school, and their school holds a silent auction every year to raise money. A few weeks ago, her sister asked if she could lend a hand with this year’s event.

She was happy to help. Her niece and nephew mean a lot to her, and supporting their school felt like an easy yes.

Whatever You Need

She told her sister she’d do whatever she needed. She even had a little extra money set aside and offered to chip in for supplies if the fundraiser came up short.

In her mind, that meant things like setting up tables, bringing food, or watching her niece and nephew while her sister worked the event. It never crossed her mind that her time would become one of the items up for bid.

A Text From a Stranger

Last week, she got a text from a number she didn’t recognize. The message said they’d won the date night basket and asked whether next Saturday would work for her.

She had no idea what they were talking about. Confused, she called her sister to figure out what was going on.

A Date Night Basket

Her sister explained that one of the auction items was a date night package. It included a restaurant gift card, movie tickets, and four hours of babysitting by the aunt herself.

She’d been added to the basket without anyone asking her. Her sister had essentially promised her time to whoever placed the highest bid.

$210 for the Package

The family who won paid $210 for the basket. Part of what made it appealing was the babysitting, which can be one of the hardest and most expensive parts of planning a night out.

Babysitters often charge anywhere from $15 to $25 an hour or more, depending on the area and the number of kids. Four hours of care could easily be worth $60 to $100 on its own, which made her time a big part of the basket’s value.

That’s the part that stings. Her sister effectively put a price on her Saturday night and sold it without her say, all while she’d already offered her own money to support the school.

A Family She’s Never Met

When she asked why her sister didn’t check with her first, her sister said she’d already agreed to help with the fundraiser. She also pointed out that the aunt babysits her kids all the time, so she figured she wouldn’t mind.

She told her sister that watching her own niece and nephew is completely different from going to a stranger’s home to care for kids she’s never met. Her sister insisted they weren’t strangers, since she knows the mom from school and says they’re a nice family. That didn’t change how she felt. She still said no.

The Value of a Saturday Night

Giving up a Saturday night isn’t a small ask. It’s time she might spend resting, seeing friends, working, or handling her own responsibilities, and she never agreed to hand it over to anyone outside the family.

Her sister keeps telling her to just do it once since the money went to the school. To the aunt, the cause doesn’t erase the fact that her time was offered without permission.

The PTA Problem

The family specifically bid on that basket because of the babysitting. Now her sister either has to find someone else willing to cover the four hours or admit to the PTA that she included something in the auction without permission.

Her sister says she’s been embarrassed by the whole thing. The aunt admits she did technically say she’d help with whatever her sister needed, and that’s the part making her second-guess herself, but she’s still standing firm while her sister scrambles to fix a promise she made on someone else’s behalf.

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