Can You Babysit Your Own Kids?

Women hate it when dads refer to watching their own kids as “babysitting.” Don’t believe me? Ask the woman in line behind you at the grocery store if watching your own kids qualifies as babysitting. She’ll be more horrified than if you had said, “pull my finger.”

Watching your own kids is not babysitting, but climbing a glass building by rope with someone else's kids hanging on your back? Definitely babysitting.

I’m sure there are many reasons for this hatred and feel like most of them are rooted in the idea that men generally don’t take on their fair share of child-rearing duties. Ultimately though, it doesn’t really matter why this hatred exists. What matters is, are they right? As in, is it wrong to refer to watching your own kids as babysitting? Can you babysit your own kids? I asked my friend Wikipedia to find out the truth.

Babysitting is the practice of temporarily caring for a child on behalf of the child’s parents.

Boom! Ladies that say that dads can’t babysit their own kids are right! So, we know that these ladies are correct, but is it really a topic worthy of getting upset about – a topic worth hating? Or is it just a harmless mistake by well-meaning dads? I feel like it’s the equivalent of my ex-girlfriend who insisted on referring to my SUV as a “truck”? I never hated it when she said that. Even if it did bother me, getting emotional about proper vehicle nomenclature just didn’t seem like a worthwhile use of time or energy. Plus… wait, what’s that, Wikipedia?

In British English the term “babysitting” refers only to caring for a child for a few hours, on an informal basis and usually in the evening when the child is asleep for most of the time.

Boom! Babysitting in England doesn’t even mean playing with kids or feeding them, just watching them sleep! If you are a dad in England and you refer to spending a Saturday with your kids as “babysitting,” you’re wrong on all kinds of levels.

And so, we have an official ruling. British ladies, you can hate it when dads refer to watching their kids as “babysitting” all you want. American ladies, I’m sorry, but you’re out of luck.

Read More “Scott and the Tiny Human” >>

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