This Mom Cannot Believe Parents Solicit Last-Minute Babysitters On The Internet
"Maybe I’m a helicopter mom but no way am I hiring a random without meeting them first..."
One mom shared her bewilderment that some parents post on the internet, specifically Facebook and Facebook Groups, asking for last-minute babysitters. She wonders if she’s in the minority in finding this type of choice strange. Does everyone not vet every single person who comes in contact with their kids?
Jillian, @jilli_7 on TikTok, posted a video on her page, asking others if they were as weirded out by this as she was.
“How wild is it that there are people that literally post on Facebook groups, asking if anybody has a babysitter for tonight? Like, ‘I need a babysitter. I'm willing to pay $20 an hour for my three kids. It'll be really easy though because the baby's gonna be asleep. I just really need somebody...’ You're willing to go to Facebook to ask for a babysitter...” she said.
“I understand not everybody has like people around, but like, I could never hire a babysitter without meeting them and making sure they're not crazy. I don't know. Am I weird for that? ... Am I a crazy parent? Because no freaking way would I hire somebody off Facebook!”
She expanded on her thinking in the caption, writing, “Maybe I’m a helicopter mom but no way am I hiring a random without meeting them first. Every babysitter I’ve had we’ve met first 😅 what are your thoughts?”
After soliciting responses from her followers, her comment section was flooded with parents giving their own opinions on the topic of hiring last-minute babysitters off Facebook.
One user said, “Now as a mom, I’m absolutely shocked at the number of families that let me babysit as a teen. I was super responsible but virtually a stranger. As a parent now, I could never”
The OP replied, “I know!! Isn’t it crazy how much your opinion/ mind changes becoming a mom”
One user joked, “in the 90s there was no facebook, just vibes and connections.”
Another remembered, “It’s honestly crazy how we used to just babysit for random people 😅😅”
“I think about that ALL THE TIME! Me babysitting 3 random ass kids at 16 lol 😂” the OP responded.
“I don’t think it’s getting them off FB that’s the problem bc you can vet, interview, etc but it’s needing them THAT night that’s an issue. I’m not letting someone I’ve known for 15 mins watch my kids!” one user wrote.
The OP replied with a follow-up video, expanding on what she called “the perfect comment” to highlight.
“This is the perfect comment to highlight because it's not necessarily like, finding somebody through Facebook. It's the fact that these people are posting on a Facebook page which is a public page for me. It's not your Facebook friends. It's not people that you know and just asking, ‘Is anyone, anybody available to watch my kids tonight?’ Not, ‘Does anybody have a babysitter recommendation? ... And ‘tonight’ meaning you don't have time to call references. You don't have time to interview. You don't have time to check these people out. So, that's the issue,” she said.
“It's not necessarily getting a babysitter. I mean literally most of my village is hired. We have had babysitters that we have had to interview and that's how we've gotten most of our help is people that we've hired. So that's not an issue with me. It's the asking a random group.”
