Best of the Rest of the Web: Oversharenting, Paid Paternity Leave, and Teenage Babysitters

“I feel defensive on behalf of all parents, especially the obnoxious ones, because when I’m not laughing at obnoxious parents, I’m being one. Are there approximately one thousand photos of my children on Facebook? Yes. At one point those little suckers lived inside my body, basically as one of my organs, and then they popped out of my body looking not only like humans, but extraordinarily cute ones. So what did I do? I took their picture. And then I took some more…. I made those little creatures from scratch so STFU, non-parents, and regardez-vous my adorable child.”

—JJ Keith (@jj_keith), mom of two, in Motherhood Smotherhood (Skyhorse), her hysterical and frank book of topical essays on ideas as diverse as the pleasures and perils of mommy blogs and Google to the growing tide of vaccine condemners; check out an excerpt at nymetroparents.com/smotherhood

Our train rides to school are just this much fun! #toddlers #nyctoddlers #ilovemyson #boysrule #motherhood #toddlerinthecity (as shared by NYC mom Angie E. Morris, angie_in_the_city) 

I’ve interviewed a lot of moms who had quit working because they thought life would be much more leisurely. It wasn’t.

—Ellen Galinsky (@ellengalinsky), president and co-founder of NYC-based Families and Work Institute (familiesandwork.org) and author of more than 100 books

Afternoon naps! #beastandmoto
(as shared by NY mom Maria Colaco at colacoshorts.tumblr.com)

@TheMotherCo: Give them the wings they need to fly! It might be the greatest gift you have to give. 

@DadandBuried: Dreamt about Dracula. He was up all night, held me in his sway, & sucked the life out of me. When I woke, my son was in my bed. COINCIDENCE?

@ParentNormal: Positive Thinking Tweet of the Day: You know you found the missing toy when it punctures the bottom of your foot.

@Scholastic: 43% of kids (ages 6-17) say they want to read books that “teach me something new.” 

@brooklynbreeder: My husband is concerned that we’re all fawning over the kitten too much and
hurting Ziggy’s feelings.

@ScaryMommy: Dear third children: We really do adore you as much as your siblings...despite your
total lack of a baby book.

Not all the Twitter Talk on @NYMetroParents has do with our crazy kids—that’s just the stuff we share here. Follow us for the best local event suggestions, updates on area businesses, and plenty of on-point tips and news.

My husband got a three-week paid paternity leave and he took it. It was so helpful to have him around. —Chrystal F.

Wait—paid paternity leave? What about paid maternity leave? How many women get that? —Mary Kay W.

No paternity leave. He took a one-week vacation starting the day I came home from the hospital. He’s only allowed to take one week at a time, which was tough since I had a repeat C-section. Still, better than nothing. —Tanya D.

My husband gets one day of paternity leave. 
He has to use vacation time for the rest of his days off. I find that ridiculous. What can you possibly do with one day?!  —Liz Z.

TREND ALERT

Are teenage babysitters a thing of the past?

More and more parents don’t want the high school girl down the block babysitting. Why? Here’s what our Facebook fans had to say.

I have a part-time job in retail. I had a teen sitter quote me $24 an hour. I told her that was too high, so she offered to charge $22. I make $14 an hour. I politely said “no thank you” and had to temporarily give up a part time job that I love. —Karen H.

No way. If they’re not over 18, they are still children themselves. —Melanie N.

Teens are asking for $15-$20 an hour for two kids. The start time is 7pm and my kids are asleep by 8pm. Once my kids are in bed, they don’t get up. Sorry, I’m not paying $20 an hour for you to use my Wi-Fi and watch my TV.  —Tara A.

I tried teens. It was a disaster. I came back to my daughter (then 18 months old) dirty with her hands in the toilet as the teen sat at the computer. —Dana A.

I’d venture to say it’s not the teens who are responsible for halting this tradition, but the parents in my Manhattan neighborhood who want their babysitters to have masters degrees in early childhood education. —Kristin K.

My teen daughter would LOVE to babysit, for even less than $10. But so few people will give her a chance. As Kristin K. said above, there is this strange mindset here that teens somehow aren’t capable of feeding a few kids, or playing with them or putting them to bed. Teens need experience working with children—learning to be patient and caring, to change diapers and cook simple meals. The idea that only adults can do these things makes very little sense to me. —Amy S. G.

What do you think? Share your opinion on our social media pages with #teensit, or email us your thoughts at [email protected] and you may see your name in our next issue!