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Parenting

15th May 2021

Man admits to spying on his wife using the nanny-cam

Trine Jensen-Burke

man spies on wife using the 'nanny cam'

Parenting is the hardest job in the world.

Some day, we feel like things are going our way, the kids are behaving, we are getting things done, there are no tantrums, no tears and minimal spills and catastrophes.

Other days, not so much.

And the thing is, this is what parenting is like – to all of us. We all have good days and we all, trust me, have the bad ones too. Some days, we bake cookies, do crafts, hit up the playground and other days, it really is OK if all you managed to do that day was keep the kids safe and fed and alive.

But how would you feel if someone was judging you for those days?

A man recently took to Reddit and admitted he was concerned about his wife’s behaviour, and whether or not she was”checking out” when alone with the kids.

He writes on the forum how they had recently had a nanny cam installed, for when they hire a babysitter, “just in case” and occasionally use them to keep an eye on the dogs when they’re out, but otherwise, they are to stay off.

However, when he one day happened to log onto the app from his phone at work, he was surprised to see the live feed from the living room.

“In the feed, my wife was on her tablet with noise-cancelling headphones when the boys were playing kind of rough with each other… she was just ignoring it,” he said.

He then went back through the app and watched some of the recorded footage stored in the cloud and saw more of the same.

“Every time, she had her headphones on and was practically ignoring the kids.”

“She got upset with me for looking through the videos”

The man explained on Reddit how he initially was more concerned than angry.

“She looked really checked-out and that was absolutely unlike her,” he said. However, when he told his wife about having seen her on the nanny cam, she was, unsurprisingly, not impressed with him.

“She got upset with me for looking through a week of videos… she said I should have told her and not watched, I told her I wanted to talk about how she was doing, what was up and she just shut down.”

The man explains that he still feels worried.

“It’s like a switch seems to flip when she’s alone with the kids versus when she knows someone is watching… she’s so attentive and present when we’re doing stuff as a family or with family friends around, but it looked like she was 100 percent checked out when she thought nobody would see.”

“Give her some breathing room.”

After the man posted his story on the discussion site, other readers were quick to comment – most of them saying the man had no business spying on his wife, and how this was completely out of order.

“Stop spying on your wife and give her some damn breathing room,” one said, adding, “The noise-cancelling headphones have to go, but you need to adjust your expectations so your wife doesn’t burn out.”

Another reader reminded the man it is easy to judge someone when you are not in their shoes.

You could learn a thing or two from your wife. Instead of armchair parenting from the comfort of your computer at work, roll up your sleeves and actually parent because it is your job and not as a ‘favour’ to her, you self-righteous spectator… I vote mom gets a hotel room for the week and watches you on the cameras all day.”

However, one or two people sided with the man, saying that he has a right to worry about his children, especially if he feels something is not right with his wife.

What do YOU think?

Topics:

parenting,viral