NFL player goes viral for saying ‘dads don’t babysit’

There’s been a lot written about the idea of the “default” parent, and how, in most cases, that’s Mom. Women are often expected to keep track of most (if not all) of the mental load that comes with parenthood, from knowing their kids’ clothes and shoe sizes to keeping track of their schedules and appointments to knowing their kids’ parents names and contact information and all of those little things that come along with parenthood that really add up over time. But NFL player Issac Rochell is going viral for his take on this, which is that dads have no excuse for not stepping up. His theory? “Dads don’t babysit.”

“Dads, when you’re taking care of your kid, can you leave your girl alone? You can handle it on your own. She’s kind of tired of hearing from you, and here’s why: because you’re babysitting. You don’t babysit. You’re just being a dad,” Rochell says in a TikTok video.

@isaacrochell Just a regular parent… doing my job #parent #girldad ♬ MILLION DOLLAR BABY (VHS) – Tommy Richman

Rochell, who shares a child with partner Allison Kuch, stands in front of a whiteboard in the video. He continues on, listing some of the questions a babysitter might ask, but that a dad should not: “How many ounces do they need? You should already know that. Figure it out. How long do they nap for? How do you not know how long they nap for? Figure it out. Can you tell me where the onesies are at? Leave her alone. She doesn’t want to talk to you. She’s trying to relax.”

Then he gets to the question dads should definitely not ask: “When are you coming home?”

Rochell continues, “Fellas, if your girl leaves the house, you’re taking care of the baby. Give her some time to breathe. You’re going to be happier, and it’ll get you closer to baby number two. Just saying. This is a good section of the whiteboard. ‘Things a dad asks when they’re alone taking care of the baby.’ It’s blank. We’re not doing this anymore. Dads don’t babysit. We’re just dads.”

In the comments, he’s getting a ton of praise for this take, which is the correct one.

“Left for 5 days and didn’t get one call with questions. Just cute picture updates with the biggest smiles,” one mom wrote.

A dad added, “My wife left me for a weekend to go on a Bach party. All her friends thought she lost her mind. Kiddo and I were just chillin.”

Yep, that’s how you do it.