Woman Calls Her Sister To Babysit Because ‘No One Else Can’, She Comes Over To Discover Their Dad Is Just Chilling At Home
A father is many things but he is not a “babysitter” for his kids.
When 17-year-old Reddit user u/Throwaway9876-57 got a call from her older sister, asking to look after her kids, the teen immediately rushed to help. After all, that’s what family is for.
But upon her arrival, u/Throwaway9876-57 couldn’t believe her eyes. The dad, her sister’s husband, was at home. Playing video games. Refusing to “babysit” the kids because it was his day off.
Of course, the Redditor stayed — her sister was in a pinch and she needed help — but the evening got progressively weirder as the guy kept refusing to spend time with the little ones.
Image credits: Alexander Kovalev (not the actual photo)
One of the toughest things to navigate as a parent is making sure that child care is in place when needed. If grandparents and other extended family members don’t live close by and your husband is a terrible father, it can be tricky figuring out how to make it all work.
It’s also probably impossible to give an exact number of stay-at-home dads, but various organizations have tried.
The U.S. Census Bureau, for example, reported in 2012 that 189,000 married men with children under the age of 18 identified themselves as stay-at-home fathers — this number was restricted to those who could identify as men who had remained outside the labor force for at least one year, while their wives worked outside the home.
A 2014 Pew Research Center paper found that 2 million U.S. fathers with children under age 18 still at home were not working outside the home. However, this report didn’t confirm that the dads were the primary caregiver or even providing child care for the children.
Societal standards don’t help the situation either. Stay-at-home dads are sometimes wrongly portrayed as lazy, clueless, or lacking masculinity.
People think the teenager wasn’t the problem in this situation
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You don't get a day off from being a parent. Being a parent is full on, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you are lucky, you get a babysitter whilst you go on a night out or weekend away. What you don't do is let your other half do all of the parenting whilst you slouch around because you want time out. The sister should book a day off herself and see how he likes it. The only way to get these people to own up to their behaviour is to throw their behaviour back at them and ask them how unreasonable it now seems whilst they bear the brunt of it. Little sister, if you are reading this then your sister needs your support right now. I have no doubt she realises his behaviour is not on, and maybe is angry with you because you pointed out the obvious. His behaviour must be embarrassing for her. Stick with her, refuse to apologise to him, but be supportive to her cause she and her kids could do with a bit of kindness in their lives right now.
It's not his day off from being a Dad. He is no real Dad to begin with. His wife does everything on her own
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Why did tell her mother a different story? The fact he lied to her mother tells me he knew he was wrong.
Bugger me, how useless is this guy, and how can anyone back him up? You don't get down-time as a parent unless you manage to get your kids to nap a while, but that's what you expect and to demand you keep your "day off" to lock yourself away like a teenager to play games is disgraceful.
You don't get a day off from being a parent. Being a parent is full on, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you are lucky, you get a babysitter whilst you go on a night out or weekend away. What you don't do is let your other half do all of the parenting whilst you slouch around because you want time out. The sister should book a day off herself and see how he likes it. The only way to get these people to own up to their behaviour is to throw their behaviour back at them and ask them how unreasonable it now seems whilst they bear the brunt of it. Little sister, if you are reading this then your sister needs your support right now. I have no doubt she realises his behaviour is not on, and maybe is angry with you because you pointed out the obvious. His behaviour must be embarrassing for her. Stick with her, refuse to apologise to him, but be supportive to her cause she and her kids could do with a bit of kindness in their lives right now.
It's not his day off from being a Dad. He is no real Dad to begin with. His wife does everything on her own
Load More Replies... Why did tell her mother a different story? The fact he lied to her mother tells me he knew he was wrong.
Bugger me, how useless is this guy, and how can anyone back him up? You don't get down-time as a parent unless you manage to get your kids to nap a while, but that's what you expect and to demand you keep your "day off" to lock yourself away like a teenager to play games is disgraceful.
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