Going out and about without your little cherub is something that you will inevitably do at some point……

Leaving your little one at home with a babysitter will be a big moment for you, not to mention an emotional moment. Maybe you want to go out with your partner for a meal, or you and your partner want to meet up with friends for a few drinks – the time has come to do something very difficult…leave your child in the company of someone who is neither mum or dad.

I remember the first time my wife and I went out and left our son behind. We dropped our little boy at his grandparents at 6pm and by 7.30pm we were picking him up again. It was an awful night. We rushed to the restaurant, ate as quickly as possible glancing at our watches every few moments and then skipped dessert in an effort to get back to our pride and joy. Why did we do this? Well to this day we’re not entirely sure. There were feelings of anxiety, feelings of concern and also feelings of guilt to some degree. We have complete faith in the grandparents to look after our little boy but we were compelled to get home. As for the guilty feeling, apparently it’s quite common and perfectly normal.

The thing is though that night out did us good. We had an hour of “us time” and we pledged that although it was hard to leave our son behind we would endeavour to get out and about again.

In essence it can prove very beneficial in more ways than one to let grandparents look after their grandchildren.

Firstly, as said previously, it allows you some “me time”.

Secondly, it allows the Grandparents to spend time with your child without you getting in the way, giving them the opportunity to form their own bonds of love with your child. Thirdly, it may build up your childs confidence in people. I have met people whose children won’t stay in the company of anyone unless their mother is present but maybe by utilising the availability of babysitters this situation may not occur.

So we have established that leaving junior behind when you go out does have it’s benefits we obviously need to point out that this isn’t license to leave junior behind all the time. You need to strike a balance in your life. You’re an individual, you’re a father and you’re a partner (possibly husband) and you need to give time too all three of these roles.

To help you Superdads have developed an emergency contacts guide for you to print out, complete and leave with your chosen babysitter.

Author: SuperDads

We’re here to make a difference. Superdads not only offers advice but we are her e to promote the importance of fatherhood. Many people are oblivious to the fact that Dads really do matter and this is something we’d like to put right.

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