'Am I overreacting?': Mum's gripe over babysitter's act goes viral
A babysitter’s act while on the job has infuriated one mum and set social media alight with debate over who is in the right.
“Am I overreacting?” mum Danielle Mitchell began in her TikTok video.
She had hired a babysitter to watch her 10-month-old child so she and her husband could go out on a date night.
But while they were out, they spotted something on the cameras inside their home that worried them.
“Around 9 o’clock I checked the cameras and it looks like she’s asleep on the couch,” Ms Mitchell said.
She initially thought the babysitter might be listening to an audiobook, so she sent her a message asking her to bring the dog inside.
“And we watched the camera to see if she would move or anything and she didn’t, so then we knew she was asleep.”
This is when the first-time mum began to “freak out”.
“She’s watching our son… but she’s asleep. But he’s also asleep – but he’s only 10 months and I don’t know if she would hear him if he woke up and started crying.”
The couple decide to cut their night short and head home and found that even when they walked into the house the girl “took a second” to wake up.
Ms Mitchell explained that they were only gone for three hours, from 6.30pm to 9.30pm, and her son was asleep the entire time.
“Is it normal for your babysitter to fall asleep when they’re watching your kids if you’re back by 9.30?” she said at the end of the TikTok.
'Not okay': Viewers divided over controversial topic
Many viewers questioned whether the sitter knew she was being watched on camera, to which Ms Mitchell replied that she was aware.
She also said she had left behind a sound monitor, but it was off when they arrived home.
“If the kid(s) are asleep, it is normal for the babysitter to fall asleep. However, the monitor should have been on and turned all the way up,” one woman wrote.
“Dad of 5 here. Unless your child has some at-risk medical condition, it’s fine for the babysitter to sleep,” a man agreed.
“Tell me this is your first baby, without telling me this is your first baby,” another said.
But others – including several babysitters – said it was never okay to snooze while working.
“Used to babysit a lot as a teenager. I would NEVER sleep at someone’s house while on the job. And that’s even when the kids are older,” one wrote.
“I would not use her again, I use to babysit and did not ever sleep while doing my job. If you did that on a job outside you would be fired,” another said.
"Hmmm she was only hired for THREE hours. Why would she fall asleep?? This is not okay in my opinion," a third said.
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