To hate parents 'babysitting'

[StumpyScot92]

Its a pet peeve that has come up far too many times today. I see it everywhere, both online and in real life.

Someone will say 'Oh sorry, I can't go to XXX, I'm babysitting then'. When talking about their own child.

That isn't fucking babysitting! That's parenting! Babysitting as a term should be used solely for other peoples children.

Petty I know but I'm pregnant, hormonal and wanted to rant

I really couldnt care less

Babysitting- sat at home with kids

My ex used to do this for me and if he had the kids "extra" I would have to pay him back

He was my ex though and an utter cunt.

If it's used of one parent only, because the other parent (usually the mother) is assumed to be the default parent, YANBU at all.

I'd be less irritated by the use of the word if it were being applied equally to either parent as general shorthand for staying at home with the children while the other parent is out, even though to me the word implies looking after someone else's child whose parent (s) are out.

Whatever, I never understood why it annoys some people so much. It's just a word that means staying at home looking after a child. Use it if you want, don't use it if you don't.

I feel like 'babysitting' is a tongue in cheek phrase when one of you is out and the other is home. If we're both there, babysitting would sound weird.

Some people use it just to mean they are the ones staying home with the children. So what?

It drives me up the fucking wall.
'Oh where X, is he babysitting?' No he's at home with his children so that I can have a sodding break from all the 'babysitting' that I do.

Let's be honest OP.

It's only men who say they are 'babysitting' their own child/children.

And yes it is annoying. Like it's a chore.

I remember a thread ages ago about a man who had given his wife some 'I will look after the kids for the afternoon while you go and have fun' cards, for her birthday!

He was offering to look after his children.

As a GIFT to his wife.

Fuck.

Off.

Just.

Fuck.

Off.

Yes I agree. The one that gets me is when people say they are getting someone to watch their children. Watch them do what? Look after is the correct term.

That isn't fucking babysitting! That's parenting!

So you'd rather they said "I can't go to xxx because I'm parenting then."

It's not just men.

If a friend asked me to go out some night that my DH had already plans and I was to stay with the kids I'd say, 'aw no, I'm babysitting that night!'.

*Today 16:23 VladmirsPoutine

That isn't fucking babysitting! That's parenting!

So you'd rather they said "I can't go to xxx because I'm parenting then*

"I can't do X because I have my kids"

Both me and dh use the "i am babysitting that night".

Really doesnt bother me what dh calls his time in charge of the kids. But thays probably because he is an equal parent in every sense. I have never felt like i am the default parent. So what word is used by either of us doesnt matter.

I imagine hearing it from someone who thinks they are doing the other parent a favour is annoying.

I see it used by men but far more women claim to be doing childcare so just as bad. It's only babysitting or child care when it's not your child otherwise it's just parenting.

It's a term I would use if only one of us was going on a night out and the other was staying home with the kids.

I don't see the problem unless, as in the cases above, it is being used because looking after the children is seen as the job of just one of the parents (the mum).

Are you not 'sitting with a baby' or 'caring for a child' even if youre the parent?

I can't get too hung up on these words...

It probably pisses single parents off the most tbh - when used by the NRP.

I think I dislike parenting more than babysitting.

In a vocabulary sense.

Maybe.

I have teenagers now so I no longer babysit. I taxi.

Do you think there is a cab drivers forum somewhere fuming about that?

When talking about their own child
Often people say babysitting when it is the father that is caring for their own child as in "isn't Daddy wonderful babysitting little baby while mummy goes out (to work)".

YANBU for getting annoyed about it.

That isn't fucking babysitting! That's parenting!

What "parenting" am I doing when they are all asleep? None. I'm doing the exact same as a babysitter would do.

YANBU at all. I also find it annoying. Used by men usually, as if they are doing a huge favour and deserve a medal, not just getting on with being a parent.

It drives me batshit insane!

I don't have children of my own, but I am one of the only woman managers at my place of work. The men I work with use it all.the.fucking.time. Those would be the same men who go on 2-week business trips while their wives are at home wit their 3-week-old babies and who are adored for being 'such devoted fathers' for taking every other Friday off to spend some time with the kids. The same men who worry that female employees might not be sufficiently dedicated to the job on account that some of us have kids at some stage.

I've resorted to saying 'well, it's not babysitting if you had any fun during the production process yourself' and they regularly get pissed off when I say this.

One of my pet hates is what I call "Matronising" women going gaga over a man feeding his baby or playing with his kid like it shouldn't come naturally to them... BARF!!! They have every right to find parenting as normal (and difficult, etc) as we do!!!