I admit I am very particular about who watches my kids and 98% of the time it is myself or my husband who is watching them. We are the parents and we decided before we had kids that we would do all we could to have one of us stay home with them.
I realize that people have to work and people have to go out and have fun, we do the same thing! How do you choose who watches your kids? Relatives, babysitting service, friends at church? Be diligent in who you choose to take care of your kids. I hate to say it but it needs to be said, even though they go to church and look and act like the best teenager in town try not to have a teenage boy watch your kids. It puts them in a bad position and if you look at most child abuse cases they are guys. I am not saying the girls are not capable of the same thing but in most cases it is guys.
I try not to get involved and post controversial things and just stay neutral but I was reading this post this morning from Hidden Treasures and it broke my heart. This little girl went through a lot and because of what happened has to think about it every day. Click HERE to read it! I felt right there that I needed to write a post about how I feel. This is my opinion and people can take it or leave it. I also think a lot of people don’t think about things like babysitters and are too trusting of others. We have to be careful in this day and age.
We need to talk to our children about the touchy subjects and help them be aware. Communication needs to be a huge thing in every home. Our children need to feel comfortable talking to us even when they are scared.
So please know who is watching your kids and don’t leave them alone with guys, especially one on one, it is a dangerous position to put that teenager or adult in and it could hurt your child for life. I hear more and more stories every day of abuse even from those close to us. Let’s protect our kids and be overprotective they deserve the best we can give them.
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Thank you so much for posting about this subject. I think it is one of those topics that people “sweep under the carpet” when in fact it should always be on parents minds. I am a stay at home mom and like you and your husband, my husband and I feel that we should be the ones who watch and raise our kids. When we do go out, we leave our kids with my parents and have only left them a handful of times with my in-laws. When my in-laws have watched the kids, it has always been at our house. My husband has a 11/12 year old brother who was adopted and came from an abusive home. I never want to put my kids in a situation, so I never leave them at their house and when we are there, my eyes are ALWAYS on the kids.
Thanks for your comment Courtney helps to know I am not the only one that feels this way. I know of way to many cases where something has happened that could have been prevented! Sad to think so many are relatives too.