I’ve only ever heard that usage on internet forums in the context of fathers complaining about other people using the term. I’ve never used it myself, nor have I actually heard anyone refer to any parent babysitting their own children “in the wild” so to speak.
As a mom, this has me so heartened that there are so many men who are against the convention of describing short-term solo parenting as babysitting. It’s just one of those things that gets under my skin. No, my husband isn’t babysitting while I go to the store. He’s parenting his kids. Ugh.
" I recall an episode of Roseanne when someone referred to Dan as “babysitting,” and Roseanne replied “Babysitting, hell. They’re his kids, too.”
I think it’s become enough of a cliche that people don’t do it anymore, but I feel like it was more common when I was a kid. Where it gets really offensive is in the phrasing “I have to babysit”, which implies it is an imposition from a nagging wife, or a favor.
Don’t have kids, but when the time comes I won’t refer to it as babysitting because they’re my own damn kids.
Outside of TV/movies I have never heard anyone actually say that.
It occurred to me to start this thread because a guy in my office had just said it; not for the first time and not in a kidding manner, AFAICT.
He’s a [del]complete douche [/del] bit of an entitled individual (I’ve often considered starting a thread chronicling the asinine things he say’s but ain’t nobody got time for all that) and I wondered if it sounded as crappy to anyone else or if I’m just biased against him. To be fair, he adores his daughter and I don’t think there is any resentment behind it. It just strikes me that he sees it as some extra special thing he *has *to do, as if it’s not naturally part of being a parent.
I use “Daddy Daycare” to differentiate the nights that I’m parenting by myself vs. when my wife and I are parenting together. I guess somebody could be offended by that, but it’s really just shorthand for when I have complete responsibility. I think somebody could use babysitting in a similar situation, but I assume from this thread, it has baggage.
I posit there are four groups of people on this.
- Men who think taking care of the kids is a mother’s job, and therefore they are babysitting in the strict sense of the word when they watch the kids.
- People who use the term in a joking sense or as a sarcastic commentary on men in group 1.
- People who think of the term generically as any time they have responsibility for watching the kids, with no implication that it’s a negative or out of the ordinary.
- People who use the strict definition and therefore consider it offensive that someone would babysit their own kids.
If people in group 4 apply their definition of babysitting to everyone, then all the other groups are assholes. But it’s really only group 1 who are the assholes.
I’ve called it “baby-sitting”. I’m not sure if I was ironic when I said it. 
I was told that it’s “parenting”. So I don’t do that anymore, unless I’m trying to be funny.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard the expression applied by a father to their own children (I certainly don’t use it). I have seen people (generally female) say to a mother that the father is “babysitting” when the mother is out alone. With my wife, that goes over poorly.
That’s similar to when I’ve heard it used. Generally said to my male friends when they’re out somewhere with their kids, said by women. I think the women are trying to be friendly and just don’t understand how rude that choice of words can seem.
Not exactly the same thing, but I remember seeing a family at a laundromat with their young kids running around annoyingly out of boredom and high energy. The father took the kids to the park to give mom (and the rest of us) a “break” to concentrate on her much-loved hobby of housework. IIRC, she thanked him when they returned.
I’ve definitely heard guys say they were “babysitting” their own kids in such a way that made me think that they were looking for a pat on the back and a long speech about what great guys they are.
This is my experience. It’s usually women using it in a jokey (but not jokey, really) way. Usually it’s the moms that are domineering types that use it.
Agreed, with one exception for me.
Years ago, I worked with a woman who, one day, said while grinning so broadly that her eyes were closed, “My husband’s babysitting! I’m so glad he can babysit! I am so lucky to have a husband who is such a wonderful babysitter!” She was always a bit hyper, and neither I nor anyone else was going to call her out on it because in addition to her husband being a good father, their son is profoundly disabled and has since been placed in a care facility; they bring him home most weekends.
OTOH, at the same place, there was a guy (yeah, a pharmacist) who, when his wife was pregnant, kept going on about how his life wasn’t going to change at all because she was going to do everything for the baby - INCLUDING its financial support. :eek: :dubious: Yeah, like any woman these days is going to put up with that. By the time I left that job, he did seem to be a more involved father than we expected, and AFAIK they are still together, but he always referred to his daughter as “it” which I found disturbing.
My now-ex-husband used to say this when I was either working or occasionally out and he was home with the kids. He had to “babysit the kids.” You can’t babysit your own kids. You’re taking of your own kids who are your responsibility. Of course, there were lots of other issues around responsibility, which is why he is my now-ex-husband.
Mark me down as a #3. According to this thread, you are scum if you use that word with your kids. I love being with my kids. Who said sitting on babies wasn’t fun?
Not my first issue with word use (Wordzing is hard for me). I used to think I was a nice guy. Uh oh, watch out! Totally loaded term these days. I guess I am a…scratches head… guy that is married and gets along well with women. Yea, that is what I am. Unless I use the word “babysitting.”
Daddy duty. It’s more specific than day to day “parent duty” where it’s shared in an ad-hoc, as needed basis, but generally more focused from the mother.
Like we always say around here, if it doesn’t apply to you, feel free to disregard 
But seriously, I personally have only heard it said by the undesirable person in my OP, and coming from him it’s quite obnoxious. Doesn’t mean others can’t say it with no deutchy intent.