I was unsure, so I headed to Wikipedia, which had a quote from the Oxford English Dictionary:
Parenthesis
An explanatory or qualifying word, clause, or sentence inserted into a passage with which it doesn't necessarily have any grammatical connection, and from which it is usually marked off by round or square brackets, dashes, or commas.
Make of it what you will. And you're probably right on there being a better way of saying it LBT, but I was quoting directly from somewhere, what with creativity being on a low. In any case, your turn.