Father Declines To 'Babysit' His Daughter, Readers Take Issue

Dec 02, 2021 by apost team

When it comes to parenting, it’s safe to say that there are plenty of ups and downs. There are so many beautiful moments that parents get to share with their children as they watch them grow up and flourish, enjoying all of the wonderful milestones in between. 

However, raising kids is a pretty demanding job, as it’s common for parents to feel stressed, tired and overall just rundown. This is why many parents rely on their friends, family members or babysitters to help out and watch their children every now and then. It’s good to have a day or night off and finally get the chance to relax. 

For one man, he decided that he wanted to help his wife get some downtime and enjoy a nice trip to visit her grandmother, who lived in Italy. He bought her two plane tickets, finally giving her the opportunity to spend some time away from home and go visit her loved ones.

However, there seemed to be some miscommunication between the man and his wife. He thought that she was going to bring their daughter with her on the trip, but his wife said that she really wanted a break from kids while she was on vacation. The man argued with her, stating that he didn’t think it was fair that he would have to babysit their child for an entire week all by himself.

The man went to Reddit in November 2021, asking users if he was wrong in this situation. It’s safe to say that the internet was not happy with him — and they made sure to let him know.

Starting off his Reddit post in the AITA forum, the original poster (OP) explained that he is 29 years old and that his wife is 25 years old and a stay-at-home mom. They have a 4-year-old daughter together. The OP bought two tickets to give to his wife as a birthday present for her to go visit her grandmother in Italy. “The other ticket was for our daughter (4F) since I assumed she’d be taking her,” he said.

However, it was clear that there was some miscommunication between the couple, as his wife said that she wanted a break “from kids” during her vacation. “I told her that that was unfortunate, since there’s no way that our daughter can not go if she goes,” OP said. “Because I have work and don’t want to take time off to babysit our daughter for an entire week.”

However, OP started looking for other options, but it unfortunately didn't seem like anything was panning out. “I suggested we have someone else watch her, but we don’t know anyone that lives close by who’d be willing to watch her,” he explained.

It seemed like the only option left was for OP to stay home and watch his child, much to his dismay. “I love my daughter, but I don’t want to take a week off to babysit her,” he said. He asked Redditors if he was wrong for refusing to babysit his daughter, and Redditors made sure to let him know exactly what they thought about the situation.

apost.com

Redditors called OP out for using the word “babysitting,” as he was simply doing what all parents do: watch their children. One user said, “Since when are dads ‘babysitters?’ You are married, correct? Does that not mean you two are a team? Did the two of you make that child or just your wife? Also, is it ‘babysitting’ when your wife has the child? If so, I think she deserved a break from ‘babysitting.’”

Another Redditor said, “Why would you not discuss this before buying two tickets to Italy? If you can afford to take the time off and are simply refusing to for whatever reason, I think you’re the a*******. It’s not babysitting when it’s your own kid, it’s parenting. If you can’t, then I really think my first question should have been addressed before booking such a trip.”

Another user was quite direct with his criticism, writing, “‘Babysitting’ is taking care of a child, usually temporarily, to whom you have no responsibility outside that babysitting gig … A father looking after their child is not babysitting; that’s called ‘parenting,’ and it’s not something special that you do, something out of the ordinary because it’s normally your wife’s job. It’s something you signed up to do 24/7, 365.25 days a year the moment your daughter was born. The fact that you consider being with and caring for your daughter ‘babysitting’ is a huge red flag.” 

The user also told OP to take the week off from work because caring for his daughter is the most important job he has.

What are your thoughts on this dad referring to parenting as babysitting? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your loved ones to get their reaction, too.