First, thanks for the comments yesterday on my "Call For Mommy/Daddy Bloggers" post. Keep the comments coming- send your friends! I’d like to have at least as many mommy/daddy blogs as I do Nashville blogs. Yes, I do have time to read all these, sort of, anyway.

At any rate, one of the new bloggers to my reading list, Tanyetta, has a post today that hits on my very biggest parenting pet peeve: Dads who "babysit" their own kids.

I could go on about how much I hate this all day. Dads, when your wife is somewhere else, you’re NOT babysitting. You’re hanging out with your kids. Are we babysitting while you’re at work or hunting or fishing or whatever manly pursuits you’re off doing? No. We’re parenting. Or, heck, just living our lives. Why is it so special when you do it?

And the women that enable this behavior irk me just as badly. The women in Tanyetta’s post are perfect examples of this. When I used to hang out on AOL message boards, there were many mothers who would incinerate any woman who dared admit she spent a moment away from little Bratleigh. I tried to live by their Alpha-Mom code and ended up nearly crazy from it.

Once I started spending time away from my kids, I was a better mom. And my husband was a better dad because he was able to trust his own parenting instinct and just be a dad without me breathing down his neck telling him he wasn’t doing it right. Sure, he didn’t do things "right"- that is to say, my way. He did things his way, which is just as acceptable.

So, mommies, don’t feel bad for getting in some "me" time. It’s important to spend time with your kids, but it’s also important to take care of yourself. Enjoy it, don’t feel guilty. Dad and the kids will be fine.