I caught up with a young friend recently who does some nanny work for a few families. One family she works for have a very busy schedule, which means the parents are not around a lot and she ends up having to do quite a bit of nanny work.
Recently at work, one of the children asked the question, “Mommy, is Daddy babysitting us tonight?”
The mom was quick to respond, stating, “No, he is not babysitting you; he is fathering you.”
When Mom has to go out and the kids think that Dad is the babysitter, is that wrong? Does that cross the line of parenting?
We all know that raising children is hard work, but outsourcing a lot of the ‘heavy lifting’ of parenting is also dangerous. Short term, it buys us time to get on with our own lives and keep doing what we enjoy too, but long term, will there be emotional issues and thus ramifications that parents will have to still deal with when their kids are adults?
I am not sure, but one thing I do know is that our children grow up very quickly, and while it is tiring, we will only get the chance to do this once.
Yes, it’s hard work, but make the commitment that you are going to make every effort to be their for your children and not forget just how much they need you around.
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:6
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