Outsourcing Parenting...

I saw a report on local Fox 5 news here in New York the other night. They had a segment on rich parents who outsource their parental duties so they can spend time doing other things. The local newscasters treated it as if it were a wonderful thing that parents could pay someone, not just for day care, but to do all the "work" of being a parent. Such things include:

• Paying a professional bicyclist to teach your kids how to ride a bike.
• Paying a person to sit up all night to comfort your child if he wakes up, so you can get a full night's sleep.
• Paying a person to help your daughter organize her room.
• Paying a person to teach your kids not to suck their thumbs.
• Paying a person to play with your kids

The only evidence of the segment I could find on the internet was this contact information on Fox 5's website, that lists 2 of the people providing their services. It's treated as a viewer resource, like it's a good thing. Throughout the segment, it was made clear that the parents who outsourced their "duties" weren't off working a busy job, they were just doing other things that they wanted to do instead of spending time with their kids. The only semblence of balance in the entire report was a developmental psychologist saying how necessary it is for kids to bond and spend time with their parents. But that advice was treated with utter skepticism and contempt by everyone else.

Needless to say, any parent who has to pay someone to teach their kid to ride a bike because they don't want to do it is a terrible parent. Do I have to mention that the services were so expensive that the "luxury" of spending time away from your kids could only be done by the filthy rich? They should be ashamed of themselves, those self-centered, narcissistic, egomaniac jerks.