Don't call dads 'baby sitters'

In an April 29 article entitled, "West Chicago father charged in son's death," you note that the father was home baby-sitting his son. Please note that parents, male and female, don't "baby-sit" their own children. They take care of their children. Baby-sitting is loosely defined as taking care of children temporarily on behalf of their parents. The Daily Herald frequently identifies fathers as "baby-sitting," but to the best of my recollection, it never uses this word when speaking about mothers caring for their children. The implication is that moms always own the job of child care, and dads only help with it. While this is only a small thing in relation to the subject of the article, it would be better if the paper didn't assume that dads have less responsibility for the care of their own children than mothers do.

Kate Perkins

Warrenville