Using the words “babysit” or “watch” in relation to caring for your own child is controversial enough. But when one woman shared on Reddit that a dad refused to care for, or in her words, “watch” their toddler so she could get out of the house, other Redditors were in an uproar. It’s the responsibility of both parents to care for a child, and the comments from other Redditors who are calling for the dad’s head reflect that.
OK, they aren’t literally calling for his head. But they expressed extreme disappointment and anger toward the husband for flat-out refusing to take care of his 2-year-old son. According to the mom, it’s an infrequent occurrence because she is the main caregiver as her husband works all day.
The mom shared that her husband makes her feel like a single parent.
In the Reddit post, the mom explained that in an effort to gain some independence, she wants to leave the house to practice for her driver’s license test. As a result, she needs her husband to care for their son. But according to her, he refuses to do much more than the bare minimum to take care of or watch their son while she is gone.
“He’s too busy playing video games or working to ever help me do anything with our son and it’s mentally draining,” she wrote in her post. She also claimed her husband doesn’t even feel like a father at this point. The mom seems to be at her wit’s end when it comes to getting him to step up.
At one point in the post, she shared that she feels like a “single parent” at times because she takes care of their son alone most of the time. Although the reason behind that is that her husband works, many agreed in the comments that he should still spend quality time with his child.
“Yeah, don’t ask him,” one person advised on the Reddit thread. “Tell him. You’re going out, it’s his turn as parent. He doesn’t get to ‘say no’ to caring and parenting his child.”
Another chimed in: “The fact that you need to say he’s ‘watching’ the kid is insane. He’s a dad he should handle his child regardless.”
Some Redditors think she should leave him as soon as possible.
Most of the commenters urged the young mom to leave her husband as soon as possible. To some, his move to refuse to take care of their toddler so she could learn a skill to make her more independent screams control.
“Him refusing to watch his child might be a way to stop you from learning how to drive, driving means independence in a way and he might want to keep you dependent on him to drive you around,” one comment read. “Don’t ask him to watch your kid, tell him to do it. Learn to drive, OP! Good luck!””
Another person gave some advice. “This is a control issue, 100%,” the commenter wrote. “Your husband doesn’t want you gaining independence. time to stand your ground. I’m learning to drive Saturday. you’re watching your son. don’t ask. Tell. his video games can wait. being a dad can’t.”
Although simply telling her husband what her plans are and leaving the house is one idea, there is the issue of trusting him to properly care for the toddler. But according to those who commented on the Redditor’s post, the best move is to gain her independence as soon as possible, no matter what.
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