Desperate mom asks strangers on the internet to babysit her 6-year-old son for free because she needs a break from him: 'He gets out of camp at 2:30 and I'm dread it.'

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A desperate mother goes on Facebook to ask her community if anybody would be willing to hang out with her 6-year-old son after he got home from camp, because she's too overwhelmed to care for him today.

Any strangers want to take my kid for a fun day out?

Subseanorse2920 · 27m I really need a break with my child. I love him so much. Is there anyone who can take him to something fun and bring him home later? Like to the park or the jumpy place or something. I do not have a lot of money, but I'm feeling pretty hopeless. He gets out of camp at 2:30 and I'm honestly dreading it. I have so much work I need to do and I'm so tired. Posting anonymously because sometimes people can be super judgmental and I really don't need that right now My son is six ✓
A 6-year-old boy, whose mother needs a break from him because she has a lot of work to do, is very tired, and she's too poor to take any time off.
KneadAndPreserve It's hard to imagine why she'd actually resort to this... ugh... like I'd stick my kid in front of a screen or something long before I got to the point of asking random strangers to take him somewhere.. so scary. What's on her plate that she can't tolerate him after him being at camp all day??
ObviousSalamandar This is so sad. I really hope any of my friends and even acquaintances know I can help them with a day off if needed!
MidwestPrincess09 Honestly burnout after having a young child is so real. I didn't start feeling human again until my daughter turned 9 and that was only last year. Especially if you are a family of no or minimal screens, you constantly have to find engagement for them otherwise they get into trouble, and I've found myself in this position a few times where my sanity was just at an all time low and I needed a real nap and some time to clean or grocery run without having to worry about the little
Filthy Thanksgiving This is terrifying - she's putting herself and that child at risk wtaf
Odd_Seesaw_3451 Yikes! I saw a similar post a few years ago. It's awful, and it made me wonder if it was intentional. The phrasing of hopeless, don't have a lot of money, and the kid's gender and age... it was very concerning.
frizzybritt A girl I went to highschool with used to post on Facebook asking anyone and everyone if they could babysit her two daughters and even asking if they could babysit them overnight. She'd post it on her page as a status, she'd post in the group pages for our city. She would catch so much heat for it, but, she continued to post and asking for anyone who was available... she was banned from many group pages for continuing to ask. I'm not sure if she actually ever left them with strangers.
BolognaMountain Context needed - is this a small group where everyone knows everyone? If so, it doesn't seem so odd. But if this is a big public group, she's in need of support because she doesn't see the danger in this type of request.
dogcalledcoco My question too. I was in a group when my kid was little and I had met many of the other families in person at playgrounds or group get-togethers. Also if it's a smaller group, I could see her making an assumption that everyone in the group has been unofficially vetted in some way (If Liz knows Jen, then she must be trustworthy).
lemonflowers1 Her child is ALREADY in camp full day and she still needs a "break" from him? mind boggling. and asking complete strangers online to take your kid somewhere is even more mind boggling.
thetinybunny1 Her needing a break is not the problem, her attempt at a solution is
lemonflowers1 I mean the 8-2:30 daily IS the break, most parents don't even have that in the summer.
katori-is-okay if she's at work during that time it's not really a break, though, is it? not trying to defend her, but just because she doesn't have her child doesn't necessarily mean she's getting a "break"
thenexttimebandit Everyone in the comments is being super judgmental and mean to this mom. She's looking for a babysitter/play date for her kid in a mom's groups which is pretty reasonable. She didn't even say she wouldn't pay, she just said she doesn't have a lot of money. She's overwhelmed with parenting and doesn't have a lot of help. The only difference between her and me is I can afford a babysitter/afterschool nanny and have friends who I can reach out to for play dates.
It's really hard to get things done during the summer with reduced childcare hours. You're all assuming she's going to dump her child off on the first person who responds and not vet them the way you would any babysitter/parent you let your kid be around.
Lala45354 I see stuff like this on my local mom page all the time. The most recent asking to swap sleepovers so the parents can have time off overnight

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