“I signed my 1-year-old daughter up for a local early children center. My coworker shook her head in disbelief. ‘Your husband must make a lot of money, because I send my kids to an in-home daycare. It’s like, two-thirds of the price!’ My husband and I are teachers, so clearly we’re not in it for the fat paychecks. As the $700 monthly bills continued to roll in, I was tempted.”
‘Are you kidding?’ I opened the front door. The babysitter was asleep. 8 kids were in the living room, awake.’: Mom says no to in-home daycare, ‘there are things going on behind closed doors’
‘It was at the hands of his babysitter, who was a family friend. Yes, we knew her.’: Mom ‘petrified’ after learning babysitter abused infant son, insists her shaken baby survivor will still ‘have the absolute best life’
“I was at work and received a phone call. ‘Eli is asleep but kicking his feet and won’t wake up!’ I called the ambulance since the sitter had not, and left work immediately. I was petrified by what she told me, but totally confused. He was fine just a few hours before. When I got to the house, he was seizing with his eyes rolled back. The EMT made a comment I’ll never forget. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this. I have no idea what is going on.’”
‘I owe an apology to all the moms I gave advice to when I was young and thought I knew it all. I’m so sorry.’: Former nanny apologizes, claims motherhood knocked her ‘right off her high horse’
“Before I had children myself, I worked as a full-time nanny. I never judged you, I loved being your helping hand, but I thought your dirty house was just your personality. I’m so sorry. I just didn’t know.”
‘What an amazing dad to step up while you’re gone. You’re so lucky,’ they’d say.’: Mom in psychiatric hospital shocked by support for her husband when her mental health was suffering
“While I was away, there were so many offers to cook for him, help him out, watch the kids so he can get a rest. Like the load was huge so there was support. For HIM. It’s crazy, because all of that – I needed. I needed that support.”
‘Wow, super Dad. Dad of the year!’ And what did people say to me? Nothing.’ Mom’s candid reflection on husband being praised for simply ‘PARENTING, not babysitting’
“While we were walking through the airport with my husband loaded down with the ‘Littles’ and I cared for the ‘Bigs’ and the bags, he was lauded with praise. People watched him with admiration. ‘You’re doing such a great job,’ they told him. Apparently, I looked like I needed to take on more.”
‘Unexpected guests rang the doorbell. ‘Are you mom?’ I nodded, ‘Yes.’ With 10 adults, you’d assume our daughter would’ve been safe.’: Parents lose daughter in drowning accident
“A bag of popcorn started on fire, and multiple kids ran outside. It only took seconds for Preslee to slip past everyone into the canal. He ran along the canal for a mile. He saw the farmer pulling her out of the water. Our sweet girl had bumped into this farmer’s leg.”
‘Society to working moms: Date your spouse! It’s important to keep your relationship fresh. Hire a babysitter, they charge 22+ dollars an hour, so take out an extra mortgage to afford this.’
“Go back to work 6 weeks after having the baby. The baby you spent 9-10 months growing inside of your body. Make sure to break the glass ceiling and excel at your job – you can do anything a man can do! It is your job to show society this! Show the world that women can do it all. Rise to the top of your career.”
‘Caleb fell off the couch. Something is wrong,’ my babysitter’s boyfriend told me. My heart stopped! ‘I’ll be right there!’ She was holding my son who was NOT crying. His eyes were closed.’
“I went back to work after maternity leave. I felt pretty good about the babysitter I found. She had a baby of her own whom she stayed at home with. I met her boyfriend (father of her baby). For two weeks, I went over on every lunch to check on him. Then I got the phone call.”
‘My mommy and daddy sleeped in different beds last night!’ That’s how my 3-year-old chose to greet our babysitter as she walked in the door.’
“’This is how rumors get started,’ I told myself. All of a sudden it becomes, ‘I always knew there was something off about him…’ ‘I knew their marriage was too good to be true…’”
‘I received suspicious looks for being a grown man at the park at 2 p.m. with his kids. ‘It’s nice of you to do your wife’s job,’ is what they were really saying.’
“I ran into friends at the grocery store, and they asked me if I’d lost my job. All of it was maddening.”
