Mom Says She'll 'Never Again' Let Her Dad Babysit His Grandkid After Spying On Him Using A Doorbell Camera
His handling of the situation seemed to make the vacation more stressful than relaxing.
VGstockstudio / Shutterstock Going on vacation while you're a parent can sometimes be more stressful than relaxing, whether you bring your kids with you or find a babysitter. While parents who can turn to their own parents to babysit may be luckier than those without that option, one mom's experience shows why that may not always be the best option.
The mom revealed she'll 'never again' let her dad babysit his grandkid after using a doorbell camera to watch them while she was on vacation.
When Molly Madfis and her husband embarked on what they hoped would be a "relaxing babymoon," Madfis' dad stepped in to babysit his grandchild. While certainly a luxury allowing them to take time away knowing their son was in the safe hands of a babysitter, according to Madfis, doing so made their "relaxing" vacation anything but.
In a TikTok video, Madfis shared the many instances that have made her rethink asking her father to babysit again in the future.
Doorbell camera footage showed her father taking his grandson to school, which is a step in the right direction. However, Madfis noted that not only were they 30 minutes late leaving the house, but her son was also missing an essential school item.
“Heading to school 30 mins late without a backpack,” Madfis wrote in the video.
While this can be frustrating to see as a parent, anything could have led up a late departure, including her son not respecting his grandparent's authority making it more difficult to leave on time or simply the two of them oversleeping.
Next, the mom shared a screenshot of texts with her dad, who appeared to have trouble figuring out her toaster. He asked her how to make toast, with a photo of the options on the toaster oven.
“The one that looks like bread all the way to the left,” she texts him, which he apparently ignored, opting to use the “pizza” option.
Her dad continued to ask her food-related questions, including “Where is guacamole and sour cream?” and wondering whether or not leftover pizza should be refrigerated.
Next, she asked him for photos of her child — which he apparently refused to send.
“Can you send me some pictures of Arlo tonight?” she asked.
“Why?” she says that he responded with. “You know what he looks like.”
The mom concluded the video with a text message she sent to one of her family members asking to “secretly” take and send a photo of the grandad. The photo shows him drinking a beer, presumably not paying attention to the grandkids. However, at this point their child was safely in the hands of other family members as well.
While some people blamed 'weaponized incompetence' for the grandfather's actions, there may be more to the situation.
Whether you're taking your kids with you or leaving them behind with a babysitter, parents are always going to have their kids on their mind. As this family shows, even leaving your children in the familiar hands of a grandparent can cause "unreasonable amounts of stress,” as one person wrote in the comments.
While we don't know the circumstances behind this mom's post, there could be many reasons why a grandparent may have questions while babysitting. For one, babysitting outside of their own home means learning a whole new routine and dealing with new housewares (such as toasters), especially if it's the first time everyone is in this situation. It's likely all of the questions are more so out of a desire to get everything right rather than to feign incompetence.
While public school administrator Robin McClure wrote for VeryWell Family that parents should provide direction for their parents who babysit, McClure also stressed the importance of keeping direction simple and giving the grandparents some authority and autonomy while they handle the day-to-day.
Spending time with loving grandparents is valuable for children.
Studies have found that kids who have the opportunity to spend time with grandparents tend to have fewer emotional and behavioral problems and learn valuable life lessons.
On top of that, taking time to yourself away from children is crucial as well.
While it's normal to feel some stress any time you spend long periods away from your child, as long as they're safe and fed (even if their bread is toasted on the pizza setting of a toaster), all is well.
Ethan Cotler is a writer living in Boston. He writes on entertainment and news.