POSTS WITH TAG: childcare

  • 28 +SHARE

    How's this for common sense being paraded as breaking news? The Wall Street Journal has an article out this week titled, "No, Girls Are Not Natural Baby Sitters." Considering my husband babysat as a teenager, they're only 20-some years behind the curve on that one, huh? And yet, when is the last time you hired a male babysitter? Have you EVER hired a boy to stay with your kids?

    Even in areas where parents tend to be pretty progressive, the number of parents who are willing to let a male come into the home to watch their kids is pretty low.

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    Some people just aren't cut out for kids. And shockingly, some of these people have actually made a career (or at least a side gig) out of watching children! It's insane! As parents, of course we always want to provide our children with the absolute best care. But sometimes, we don't know any better!

    It's happened to the best of us. We're in a bind and desperately need someone to watch our child. Be it because of a work commitment or a medical emergency, we simply can't watch our kids. So we call a babysitter (whose references we've checked!), and well, everything just goes to hell.

    Check out these 9 babysitter horror stories that are actually true! You may never leave your child's side again!

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    Swaddling my baby was one of my favorite ways to soothe my son during his first few months. He loved being tightly snuggled into a blanket. It made him feel secure. And he looked so cute -- who doesn't love a little baby burrito? But these are dark days for swaddling. Apparently day cares all over the country are banning swaddling, and no one is happy about it.

    Daycare workers say babies aren't as happy as they used to be, and they're taking much shorter naps now. It's all thanks to new guidelines set by the National Resource Center on Child Health and Safety in 2011. They said swaddling could lead to severe health issues, including hip problems, especially if babies are laid down on their stomachs. "In child care settings, swaddling is not necessary or recommended." So harsh! Are they right?

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    If you're like pretty much every single mom I know, then the mere thought of leaving your baby with a sitter for the very first time makes you want to hide in a closet while clutching and rocking the baby and cry your eyes out for a good two hours or so.

    That pretty much sums up how I felt when trying to decide whether or not it was time to surrender control of my precious baby over to another human being -- other than immediate family, of course.

    And apparently fearing the babysitter isn't a phenomenon that only happens to first-time moms. A good friend of mine just welcomed another little one into her family, and at 8 weeks, she's definitely not ready to pass her off to someone else just yet.

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    In a recent interview with Vogue, President and Michelle Obama opened up about their life when they were still a "typical, middle class family". The President reminisced to the mag about when he was still a state senator, saying: "We had to figure out how to make a mortgage, paying the bills, going to Target, and freaking out when ... the woman who’s looking after your girls while Michelle’s working suddenly decides she's quitting. All those experiences made us who we were."

    Wait. Somebody quit being the Obama's babysitter? The hell? And, wait -- how did they deal with that?! Having the babysitter up and quit is every working parent's nightmare incarnate!

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    Finding a responsible person to care for your baby while you are out is a daunting task for any parent, and once we do find someone we trust -- it's imperative that we treat them well so we don't ever lose them.

    And that's why the new UrbanSitter infographic showing the average hourly rates for babysitters across the U.S. is not only alarming, it's also appalling, and pretty darn sad too.

    Based on the stats shown, most of the babysitters in this country are getting gypped, plain and simple.

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    Kendra Wilkinson is known for telling it like it is. Now that she's a mom to adorable Hank IV, the former Playboy Playmate doesn't hold her tongue about parenthood either. Her latest confession, however, may surprise a lot of other mothers.

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    Oh my stars have I got a story for you all today. It seems it is so rough out there for moms who have nannies that a whole new job has been created. Nanny doctor.

    What, you're thinking, a babysitter with a medical degree? I went there first too because, hey, in this economy, you never know how low the educated might have to fall to put food on the table.

    Ah, if only this new-fangled notion for moms made that kind of sense. If only.

    So what, exactly, is a nanny doctor?

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    So, we've all heard that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is making all her employees work at the office instead of from home. Well fine, that's the corporate environment she wants. She needs to shake things up. She wants more productivity and collaboration. Whatever. I mean, at least she's in this with her employees. It's not like she gets to work from home or anything.

    Oh, but did I mention? Marissa Mayer has her own private nursery at the office. Well all righty then! I guess it's easy to put in all those hours at the office if your kid is there with you. But what about everyone else? Isn't this just a little bit hypocritical?

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    I was a stay-at-home mom for three years. I would never say they were the best years of my life. Well, OK. The first one was. After that, they became hard, frustrating, boring, and sometimes lonely, too. I loved my kids, but I felt like I never got a break from them. 

    Unlike a job where you go to work, being a mother means never being off. There is no 9 to 5. You are on duty from 6 a.m. one day to 6 a.m. the next with little to no break in between. So yeah. If a mom can afford it, hiring a nanny so she can run to a yoga class or get a manicure or, hell, just drink a cup of tea with no interruption is pretty nice, indeed.

    So why would any mom get down on her for it? A heated discussion on CafeMom's boards raised this issue, and the amount of judgement that it brought out was kind of shocking. My guess? It's a lot of jealousy.

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