Georgia couple outsources parenting to India

It was bound to happen. A couple in Atlanta, Georgia, have outsourced their parenting duties to India, allowing them to spend more time watching TV.

“Our children are at an age where they require a lot of supervision and, quite frankly, it was cutting into our TV time,” said Susan, 36, who requested that their last name not be used. “I like to watch reality shows and my husband likes to watch sports, so we don’t really have time to watch the kids.”

Susan, a nurse, and her husband, Bob, 37, a building contractor, have three children, Robert Jr., 10, Candace, 8, and Anthony, 7. “We work hard at work, battle traffic on the highway, and by the time we get home, we’re exhausted and ready for the Asians to take over,” Bob said. “We order Chinese and leave the rest to the Indians.”

They’re among the first clients of a new online company called PayRents, based in Chennai, but with employees throughout India. Company president Rajah Chelladurai said he decided to start PayRents after hearing that many Americans were having trouble controlling their children. “I heard about Lionel Ritchie and his daughter Nicole,” he said. “Also Kathy Hilton and her daughter, Paris. I was surprised how badly those girls were behaving. Then a friend showed me a video that really shocked me. It was called Girls Gone Wild.”

He concluded that many Americans are too busy to do any parenting. “They have money, but they don’t have time,” he said. “So why not let us do the parenting for them? Through the Internet, we can supervise their children and tell them how to act, how to behave. We can also teach the older children some facts of life, such as PMS does not stand for pre-marital sex, and VD does not stand for Valentine’s Day.”

The ‘PayRents’ don’t just speak to a child through the Internet, they also monitor the child’s activities with help from a video camera. “We watch them and we talk to them,” Chelladurai said. “And when they get sleepy, we sing to them. Some children ask us to read a bedtime story and we try to accommodate them, usually with something from the Panchatantra.”

Susan and Bob are so pleased with PayRents, they’ve recommended the company to several of their friends. “One of my friends, Barbara, has a 30-year-old son who still lives at home and does not date much,” she said. “But with some constant nagging from PayRents, he’s now spending all his time reading matrimonial ads. We hope he ends up with a good Indian girl.”