A father has sparked a debate about fatherhood after admitting he fired his nanny for giving his little one too many gummy bears.
In a viral post shared on “A babysitter allowed our four-year-old son to eat 11 packages of gummy bears today,” Avedikian wrote on June 17.
“When my wife discovered this, she asked the babysitter why she was allowing this to happen,” he continued. “The answer: 'She kept asking for more.' “I told my wife not to let that babysitter near our kids ever again.”
He added: “No one with such poor judgment should be trusted with anything of value. Period.”
Since it was posted earlier this week, Avedikian's tweet has been viewed more than eight million times on the platform. However, her decision to fire the babysitter for giving her little one a large amount of candy received mixed reactions in the comments section.
Many commenters wondered exactly how many gummy bears Avedikian's little one had actually consumed. In the comments, he revealed that his family's favorite brand is Black Forest, an organic brand of gummy bears made with real fruit juice. According to the brand's nutrition label, one bag contains 70 calories per serving with 11 grams of sugar.
While it is unclear exactly which package of Black Forest gummy bears Avedikian's family had stored in their home, one respondent estimated that Avedikian's son had likely consumed 770 calories of gummy bears and 121 grams of sugar.
“My wife came across a pile of empty gummy bear packages,” another user responded. “I thought she was joking when she told me it was hard to believe an adult could be so incompetent!”
The American Heart Association recommends that children ages four to eight consume about 1,200 calories per day, meaning Avedikian's toddler had more than half of his daily caloric intake in gummy bears.
Despite the lack of nutritional benefits, most commentators believed that Avedikian had overreacted by firing the babysitter for letting her son eat 11 packages of gummy bears in one sitting.
“How old was the babysitter? If she is a teenager, you have to take it with a grain of salt,” asked one commenter, to which Avedikian explained that she “is at least 20 years old.”
“Did you have a conversation with the babysitter about feeding and snacking protocol?” suggested another person. “You all might have some ownership here if there weren't clear expectations.”
“Chill, buddy. They're just gummy bears,” chimed in a third. “Send the kid out in the backyard to run in circles. That'll help with the sugar high and make her tired. Problem solved.”
Others simply poked fun at the viral parenting debate, like one dad who said, “My kids want the babysitter's number.”
More recently, another mother sparked an online debate when she revealed that she charges her young children for rent and utilities. In April, a mother took to TikTok to share that her three children, ages six, eight, and nine, pay rent, utilities, and their share of food each month.
“Every week they pay them 6 dollars. One dollar a week is expected to go to your [monthly] expenses,” mom Samantha Bird said in her video. She explained that each of her children owes her $1 for rent, $1 for utilities, and $1 for groceries on the first of each month.
As for her reasoning for why she wanted to introduce the topics of bills and spending at such a young age, Bird noted that this was a “safe environment” for them to learn about money versus how to figure it out when they're older.
While some commenters praised Bird's parenting technique, others claimed that young children shouldn't have to worry about paying rent or bills. “They should be kids, they shouldn't have to worry about anything,” said one TikTok user.
