Wow, talk about weird neighbors

[schildi]

This message has been deleted.

[skubikky]

Well, regardless of his anger, it was a yes or no question, not maybe.
Either you'll do it or you won't.

[april47]

He wasn't out of line to ask nicely but he was way out of line tobe mad at you for not being sure that you can do it all the time. Did he not want you to be truthful? At this point I would tell him no not at all because I wouldn't want to be dealing with someone so easy to flare up.

[midjd]

Is it someone you know well? I can't imagine asking someone I hardly know to pick up my kid at the bus stop. If it's a closer neighbor, well, it's still rude for him to be mad, but at least not quite such a weird request.

I have several SAHM friends who complain of this - people assume since they're not tethered to an office, they're free to run everyone else's errands.

[thyme4change]

We had a male babysitter. It was great. He could sit and play cars with my son for hours. It felt like I finally gave some balance after all the "girly" things our female babysitters did with the kids.

[schildi]

too identifying I think.
Snerd, I'd agree. No babysitting was involved though.

[Gardening Grandma]

Jun 17, 2011 8:32:25 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

I also would not hire a male to babysit. I would find it odd if a male wanted to babysit in the first place.

What's odd about a male babysitting? My oldest kid babysat when he was a teen. In fact he got asked quite a lot to babysit for boys because he'd do fun "guy" things with them.

[Deleted]

Jun 17, 2011 8:54:44 GMT -5 Gardening Grandma said:

Jun 17, 2011 8:32:25 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

I also would not hire a male to babysit. I would find it odd if a male wanted to babysit in the first place.

What's odd about a male babysitting? My oldest kid babysat when he was a teen. In fact he got asked quite a lot to babysit for boys because he'd do fun "guy" things with them.

I used to baby sit all of the time. I only molested a few kids.

[Deleted]

Jun 17, 2011 9:00:26 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

Arch, what if someone investigated your internet writings and pulled that up?

They would get an eyefull.

[kgb18]

For those of you who have an issue with man picking up your children or a male babysitter, do you also have issues with male teachers?

[Deleted]

I have a problem with male parents.

[CarolinaKat]

Ah! The heart of Archie's weirdness, he has problems with himself!

[Deleted]

Single mothers are the only ones who really care about protecting their kids.

[kgb18]

But women can be inappropriate with children too. The fact of the matter is that there are bad people out there and they come from every gender, race, religion, etc.

If we're going to say that men can't babysit or be teachers, then we're going to have to start to have a lot of gender divides. Only male doctors for male patients and women doctors for women patients. All girls are going to have to play on all girl sports teams with only women coaches and boys on only boy teams with male coaches. The list could go on and on. And that's not going to stop bad people from preying on children.

[zibazinski]

My DS babysat boys because the parents said he would do things with them unlike the girls who would just watch tv or hang on the phone and ignore them. He was in high demand. I made him be 12 and take the babysitting class at the library.

[midjd]

Archie, you are cracking me up.

Most sexual abuse toward children is perpetrated by a trusted friend, relative, or neighbor, so although I would be leery of leaving my (hypothetical) kid with a stranger, this is probably a fairly irrational concern.

[kgb18]

Every parent has to make the choices that they think is best for their child. I'm not trying to criticize anyone who is uncomfortable with a male babysitter or whatever, but I'm trying to understand the mindset.

I would never leave my child with someone I didn't know well, be it a man or a woman. I wouldn't ask just any neighbor to watch my child or pick her up from the bus stop or whatever, whether they were a man or a woman. But we have some neighbors who we know well and trust, and if I needed help I wouldn't hesitate to ask either the husband or the wife for help.

ETA: The OP got deleted before I could read it, so I'm not sure what started this whole thing.

Because of my job I know all too well about child predators and have been exposed to both defendants and victims and court proceedings that are downright painful to see. I don't take the safety of my child, or any child, lightly. But I've learned that child predators come in all shapes and sizes.

[CarolinaKat]

Jun 17, 2011 9:58:36 GMT -5 kgb18 said:

Every parent has to make the choices that they think is best for their child. I'm not trying to criticize anyone who is uncomfortable with a male babysitter or whatever, but I'm trying to understand the mindset.

I would never leave my child with someone I didn't know well, be it a man or a woman. I wouldn't ask just any neighbor to watch my child or pick her up from the bus stop or whatever, whether they were a man or a woman. But we have some neighbors who we know well and trust, and if I needed help I wouldn't hesitate to ask either the husband or the wife for help.

ETA: The OP got deleted before I could read it, so I'm not sure what started this whole thing.

Because of my job I know all too well about child predators and have been exposed to both defendants and victims and court proceedings that are downright painful to see. I don't take the safety of my child, or any child, lightly. But I've learned that child predators come in all shapes and sizes.

It had nothing to do with male babysitting or anything. It was more about the neighbor throwing a tantrum because they didn't get the response they wanted than who should watch a kid. Doesn't matter, this discussion is good.

[zibazinski]

BTW, I always drove our young female babysitters home after a friend told us her husband was "shaken down" by the babysitter or she was going to say he came on to her. Never knew whether it was true or not but it was enough to scare us. Even if you are innocent, that is a no-win situation.

[thyme4change]

husband was "shaken down" by the babysitter or she was going to say he came on to her.

That sucks.

Luckily, our babysitters are all walking distance!

[zibazinski]

I wouldn't have wanted them to walk home in the dark anyway unless I could stand on the porch and watch them until they were in their door.

[thyme4change]

One of us usually walks them home, or at least stands in the street to make sure they make it.

[swamp]

My babysitter is my MIL. Other than her spoiling the kids and her boundary issues, all's good.

[Deleted]

My father watches my daughter all day on Mondays and my FIL watches her all day on Tuesday. I should probably set up a nanny cam.

[thyme4change]

Too late arch - your daughter is already ruined.

[Deleted]

Jun 17, 2011 12:42:09 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Too late arch - your daughter is already ruined.

I better sell her quick, before it is too obvious.

[zibazinski]

Like I said, I have no clue if the story was true but it made us feel that it would be smarter to have me drive babysitter home just in case. No need to borrow trouble. Maybe the husband lost the money at poker. Who knows? But it seemed to be a smart move for us so we did it.

[Deleted]

Jun 17, 2011 12:47:15 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Like I said, I have no clue if the story was true but it made us feel that it would be smarter to have me drive babysitter home just in case. No need to borrow trouble. Maybe the husband lost the money at poker. Who knows? But it seemed to be a smart move for us so we did it.

Hopefully they stopped using her as a babysitter.

[zibazinski]

There's evil in all of us. Choosing to act on it or not is the difference.

[kgb18]

We only use family as babysitters right now, so safety has never been an issue for us. However, I would like to find a sitter to have as a backup. The problem I'm running to is that we don't know anyone with teenagers.