Why am I expected to be everyone’s caretaker at home?
As-salamu alaykum - I need some advice. This started when I was about 7 and I liked helping with cleaning, but as I grew up it turned into an unspoken rule that I always cook, clean, and look after everyone. I was even called the “woman of the house” when I was TEN. I have a 26-year-old sister, a 9-year-old sister, and three older brothers who can take care of themselves. Still, I’m the one who’s expected to tidy my mom’s room whenever my mom and little sister make a big mess. If my mom makes a mess in the living room while getting ready, I get ordered to clean it and it ends up being blamed on me. My 9-year-old sister leaves things everywhere, does nothing, and when I tell her to pick up she will do things to annoy me until I yell. Then she cries and I get scolded. I do online school and sometimes have 30 assignments and 8 quizzes a day - I’m really busy - but my name gets called every five minutes. My mom does some strange things too: she eats snacks in bed and leaves the wrappers there (I even placed a trash can beside her bed so she wouldn’t make such a mess) and then tells me to clean while she’s on her phone. And my brothers leave messes wherever they go, but somehow it’s MY duty to clean up after them. I’m so tired of this. When I try to speak to my mother about it she ignores me, tells me to make tea, or tells my little sister to clean and then the same thing happens again twenty minutes later while she’s on her computer. I don’t want to be rude, and I want to respect my parents, but I also need some space for my studies and my own wellbeing. Any advice on how to approach this - kindly, Islamicly, and effectively - would be really appreciated. Jazāk Allāhu khayr.