Life Lesson #962- Fathers do not babysit thier children

Today's rant is courtesy of the checkout girl at the grocery store and the parents of the one week old who decided that it was a good time to make "Baby's First Sam's Club" trip in the snowstorm.

So last week I decided to make the trek to the grocery store- in the cold. Not preferable but when you realize the only food in your house is a bunch of basil, a half full jar of mayo, and some taco seasoning something has to be done. After filling my cart with enough supplies to ensure that I will not have to venture back until 2009, I make my way to the checkout. In front of me is a father and a couple of kids- mom is nowhere in site (I say this because it is rare in Utah). So anyway, the checkout girl comments that it is so nice of father to babysit his kids that night. This alone did not strike me as odd but then I realized that I hear this alot. Maybe it is still 1954 out here, but I was under the impression that fathers did not babysit, they parented.

Babysitting implies a temporary situation, usually ending with the exchange of money. Seriously, babysitting is what I did when I was 12. I would go over to someone else's house, watch someone else's kid, order pizza with someone else's money, put someone else's kids to bed, and watch someone else's TV until someone else came home and paid me. For a brief period of time, I suppose I was in charge of keeping their kids safe but this was only temporary and then I could go back to my 90210 watching 7th grade self. Fathers are not babysitters. Yes, it was nice of the father to take the kids out and spend time with them but this is something fathers should be doing. It is kind of part of the job description.

Along a similar note, why on earth would you take your newborn out in a snowstorm? I mean, I get that you need diapers and unimaginable quantities of sugar and chocolate for your holiday treats but did the baby really have to make the journey to Sam's Club? I only say this because the baby in question was accompanied by TWO parents- most definately a situation where one could have stayed home. I get that mom probably wanted to get out of the house- ok, that's cool- let dad stay home. And before you go saying- oh, they were probably young and didn't know better- let me tell you that they were well over the average age to pop out a kid in Utah and either way, should have known better. I guess I should not have been totally shocked at this as I see it all the time. I understand families like to spend time together and that is cool- but wouldn't it be faster and easier for one parent to stay home and hang out with the kiddos while the other one runs the errands. Not only will the errands get accomplished quicker but the stores will not be full of screaming kids who are sick of running errands (The mother who smacked her kid across the face for calling his father a "meany head" is another story entirely.). This will, in turn, led to much more plesant family time. It will also clear up the aisles in Wal-Mart (**shudder**).