Writer’s Workshop: Babysitting Confessions
by Jenners • 10/13/2010 • Confessions, Writers Workshop • 83 Comments
Time for Writer’s Workshop! Head on over to Mama Kat’s to join in.
This week, I’m choosing prompt 5: A memorable babysitting job. But I’m not going to write about one particular babysitting job. Rather, I’m going to share some of the reasons you might have wanted to hire me … and why I might NOT have been such a good choice after all.
Reasons To Hire Me
- Kids LOVED me. After all, I got down and dirty with them … playing, making up games and basically acting like a child myself. This pretty much guaranteed that I had a pack of adoring acolytes who would bug their parents for me to come back over and over and over again.
- I always cleaned up if I (or the kids) made a mess.
- I had no social life so I was pretty much always available.
- I was terrible at math so it would be very easy to rip me off when paying me.
I sound fantastic, don’t I? I bet you’re wishing you had my 13-year-old self available to you as a babysitter now, right? Well, don’t be so hasty. Read on … and find out the Dark Side of the seemingly perfect babysitter.
Reasons NOT To Hire Me
- I could never stay up much past 11:00 p.m. Therefore, you’d come home and find me, your babysitter, asleep on the couch, lightly snoring. Amazing really that anyone hired me again as I am quite a heavy sleeper. I remember one couple having to shake me awake to take me home. Good thing there was never a home invasion on my watch … I would’ve slept right through it!
- I would conduct a thorough search of your pantry, cupboards and freezer to find treats. And then I would eat them (or as much as I thought I could eat without you noticing).
- I was easily freaked out by scary movies or books. Did you ever see that movie about the babysitter who gets a bunch of calls from a psycho … and then she finds out the calls are coming from inside the house? Well, I never saw that movie … but that didn’t stop me from hearing about it and freaking myself out every time I babysat. I would just about jump out of my skin every time the phone rang.
- I had a knack for finding the books and magazines you probably wished I didn’t know you had. I remember finding a copy of Judy Blume”s Wifey at one house and thrilling to what seemed to be the dirtiest book ever. But my single greatest find was an immense porn collection at a neighbor’s house. They had an entire ROOM filled with Playboys, Hustlers, Penthouses and other magazines that seem shocking even in retrospect. I babysat for this couple quite a few times and always took time to explore this most forbidden of rooms. I felt like I knew something so shocking and sinister about these people—liked I’d discovered an S&M dungeon or a dead body stuffed into a suitcase.
Comic found at Noted: Chris Barragan
If you will accept food as your payment for babysitting the entire day, then I will definitely hire you! LOL You can eat all food that you want, there won’t be a problem with me. So long as you also clean up the mess! Also, no hassle at all since you won’t be counting any money right? When do you want to start? LOL
Well, not just food … good food like pizza and chocolate. Other than that, I’m easy … and amazingly inept at math!
I was freaked out by the babysitter/stalker movies too. I remember thinking about every sound when I babysat past 9 p.m. I would also hunt for treats!
I knew you would hunt for treats … chocolate ones.
Did we attend the same babysitting school? I could have written this hilariousl post!
Hmmm…did you attend The Babysitting School for Snoops and Chocoholics? That is where I graduated from.
I also searched for treats, lol. I loved playing with the kids and dreamed of having my own one day. :0) But porn, really? lol I tried not to see stuff, I tried to ignore anything not kid related.
You’re a better person than me then!
A whole room full of porn?!? Ewww, would not want to babysit there. I was always so paranoid about being asleep when they got home that I would force myself to stay awake, even for the couple that was out until 2:00 AM every week.
The porn room was creepy. Really creepy. It made me feel weird around them for the rest of the time I knew them.
great post! lol about the treats.
If there was a bag of cookies or a box of candy, they could just kiss those goodbye! : )
This is hysterical! Absolutely wonderful post.
And by the way, I’ve tagged you. Visit here to see about it: http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2010/10/ive-been-tagged.html
So I’m IT then, huh? : )
I confess that I was also a treat sneaker … especially Oreos. If a house had oreos, they were as good as gone. I was also kind of bad about giving the kids extra treats just so that I could have some.
And getting scared after the kids went to bed? Almost every time there was some noise or something that freaked me out. Actually, I’m still kind of like that now.
(p.s. Starting to read Spook today!)
It seems that scavenging for treats is babysitter modus operandi. Now I know your Achilles heel.
And I can’t wait to see what you think about Spook.
Ha, you sound like my husband, he can’t stay awake past 10 ever anymore!
I was a horrible babysitter. Seriously! I used to babysit from 7am-5pm in the summer, and I would always fall asleep on and off until 8:30 or so… she was 11, and wasn’t up yet, but STILL.
I’m glad there is another adult who can’t stay up much past 10! It is a bit embarrassing!
“When a Stranger Call”—-that movie put an end to my babysitting days!! OMG freaked me out!! A good choice for this Halloween season’s Friday night Flick, though!
LOve your cartoon!
Yes … that was the movie! I didn’t even SEE it and it scared me.
I once was driven home after babysitting by a guy whose wife puked all over the driver’s side door because she drank too much that night. That was quite eye-opening for a 12-year-old.
Another time while babysitting for that same family, a folded up ping-pong table fell on the 6-year-old boy. He cried and kept saying his arm hurt and I kept telling him he was fine. The next day I saw him in the neighborhood and he had a cast on his arm. I don’t think they called me back after that.
Wow! That was some interesting babysitting stories. I’m sure it was bizarre to see a drunk, puking grown-up. And yeah … I don’t think I would have called you back after the ping pong incident either!
Well, at least people hired you! It never crossed anyone’s minds when I was 13… just as well, I would have feared for the kids’ safety!
I was even a “certified” babysitter thanks to the Girl Scouts. (Not that it matters if I’m sleeping off a sugar coma on the couch.)
I think all babysitters are allowed to snoop, I mean really who doesn’t snoop?
Some people SAY they don’t snoop, but I believe everyone does … they just don’t want to confess to it!
Haha! Babysitter’s can’t help but be a little nosy… lol
Well, the pay isn’t so great so I guess snooping is a perk!
Even with all that, you’re still better than my Mother in Law.
Thanks for stopping by my blog! There ARE Twilight tour and they’re pretty cool. A Rob look a like came on ours and he actually looked like him. It was kinda funny.
Michelle
Cool about the Rob look-a-like. I bet everyone was mooning over him. He should have charged for a kiss or two! : )
Thanks for stopping by!
Wow, a whole room full of porn?! That must’ve made it very hard to look at your employer the same way again, huh? I know I wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face!
You can babysit for us anytime you want. Your do’s outweigh the don’ts in my opinion. Feel free to raid all our cabinets for snacks. That way I’d have less to eat which is probably better anyway
And don’t worry about finding anything dirty in my home. We live in a very small space so the dirtiest thing you’ll probably find is the unwashed sweater that was lost under the couch a year ago.
It did change my view of them. I mean it wasn’t a magazine or two .. it was an entire room. I always felt strange after that.
Thank goodness for that – here was me thinking you were about to confess to dropping a child on its head or something equally bad.
No hurting of the children … just looking for chocolate and uncovering porn stashes!
Good lord! I just saw how long my comment was… Yeesh! I guess I should have written a post! Haha!
Well, I guess you could link to your comment and call it a post! (Or just copy and paste and you have yourself a prewritten post!)
That’s ok. Laziness has won the battle in this case.
And I didn’t consider quitting the second job until I talked with an adult about it and they said they didn’t think that the parents should be leaving the foster kid with a babysitter anyway since she had so many problems, so I felt no guilt about quitting after that.
Just the other day I was thinking about how much I hated babysitting, and how it would make a great post but that I’d probably be too chicken (or lazy) to post about it.
I was not a big fan of babysitting and didn’t know how I managed to get so many gigs – random people calling me up to babysit – until later when I found out a lady at our church had been recommending me. I wasn’t too happy about that.
Oh, and my most difficult babysitting job? It might be toss-up. One was an energetic 2-year-old Korean boy who didn’t speak a word of English and who had to be kept out of his Amway-selling mom’s hair while she worked at home. She actually gave me a wooden spoon to whack him with if he got out of line. I wasn’t really comfortable with that. They were so desperate for a sitter that they begged me to stay when I told them I wasn’t coming back again (seems I was the latest in a long line of sitters).
The other was for a five year old with life threatening asthma who had to have all of his snacks heated so that he didn’t have an attack. He also wasn’t allowed to watch television and had only toys that were “educationally acceptable.” His family then took in a three year old foster girl who had been badly abused and had a lot of issues that I wasn’t prepared to deal with, so I decided it wasn’t the job for me anymore.
You should have written a post! Both of those jobs sound really really difficult. The parents of both kids seemed to have no business hiring a kid to babysit these high-need kids. That would put anyone off of babysitting! I’m amazed you decided to have kids yourself after experiencing that!
I used to totally be the fun sitter and kids and I always connected. But I think my years as a mom has tired and worn me down. Sometimes I think my kids don’t think I’m as fun as the kids I used to sit for. Can you relate?
And I routinely leave or bake treats for our sitter. It makes for a much happier sitter.
Oh yes … I do relate. I think it is easier to be “fun” for a few hours and then leave. Being “fun” 24/7 is a bit of a strain.
And I would love to be your sitter! Imagine that … fresh baked treats!
I think it is ok to fall asleep as long as the kids are safe.
Whew! I always felt bad about that … like I should have been up the whole time. But I guess I don’t stay up all night as a parent so why would I as a babysitter?
I’d still hire you. What does that say about me?
It says you have low standards?
Thank God I’m not the only one who was such a nosy little snoop! The few times I babysat, I left no stone unturned or drawer or door unopened. I was all up in their business. I never did find any naughty mags. while babysitting but my best friend’s mom had a very impressive stack of Playgirls that we frequently guffawed over!
I’m so glad I’m not the only one!!! Perhaps that is why I still haven’t hired a babysitter yet … I remember too well what I was like!
I never thought to investigate the home of the people I babysat for at that age, but even if I had thought of it I would not have done it – I’ rather not know what lurks behind the closet doors of other people
For me, it was one of the perks of the job. But then, I guess I’m a little snoop.
I never ate anything while babysitting. Ever. Weird, huh?
Yeah … that is kind of weird.
It was very nice of you to write about me and pretend it was about you.
Well, when I write my autobiography, I’ll call it “The Life of Jill At Rhapsody in Books.”
Heck, Wifey was almost porn! Never mind the Playboys. Eh, I’d hire you despite your foibles. If your hair (and thus the house) was on fire, you’d wake up.
I wonder if “Wifey” still holds up today. Hmmm…something I might have to check out and report back on.
you are such a hoot! i bet your mom would
have DIED!
You know, I never ever told her about our neighbor’s immense porn collection. I feel it would have hurt their friendship.
Too funny! One lady I babysat for kept Playgirl in her bathroom. I guess she needed something interesting to read while doing her business. I think I was only about 13 and I was a bit shocked by that. At another home when I was watching two little girls, they snuck off to their bedroom when I was making dinner. When I found them, the older one had given her sister some bangs that were about half an inch. Luckily the mom was pretty laid back and didn’t get upset. Good babysitting memories!
You know, I never did see a Playgirl. I think I would have had a heart attack! At least I kind of knew what women’s bodies looked like … men’s bodies were a big mystery at that point!
And thank goodness the mom was laid back about the bangs! YIKES!
Oh my, you are reminding me of my own adventures in babysitting! I used to get scared too. One time I started reading Helter Skelter (I found it on the people’s shelf) and was so freaked out that I was literally counting the minutes until they got home!
I can imagine … Helter Skelter would NOT make for good babysitting reading!! YIKES!
Ha! That sounds pretty tame. I was was sitting for a toddler who bounced herself right off the bed and onto the floor on her head. My heart nearly stopped, figuring that the kid would be brain damaged for life. She wailed like a banshee, but seemed fine after she calmed down. Thank goodness children are reasonably durable. (And I did sit for her several times after that… but we stayed clear of the bedrooms.)
I wonder what I would have done if a child had gotten hurt on my watch. Despite my “babysitting certification,” I’m sure I would have had a meltdown.
Besides my brother that was seven years younger, I never was a babysitter, which totally seems kind of weird now.
It was the only way I could earn any money as a youngster. I had no choice!
I’d hire you. You sound like a gem compared to some of the sitters I’ve had.
That sounds like a future post you need to write!
I was terribly guilty of eating as much as I possibly could without being discovered too!
I guess that was one of the “unmentioned” perks of the job!
When I babysat a two year old the parents were always so “pleased” when they came home. We were both asleep on the couch by 8:30, lol They were never mad or upset just kinda hoping he would have gone to bed later so they could sleep in the next morning, lol.
They sound like me as a parent now … anything to get your child to sleep longer!
Oh, I would so hire you to watch my kids.
Well, I do have a kid limit … and you exceed that! HAHA! ; )
LOL! I’d still hire you – I have so many books that it would take you a very long time to find the dirty ones and I’m quite happy for you to eat all the treats you like
Oh I would LOVE the chance to poke through your books! I’m sure I would find so many to read that I’d babysit for free! : )
Well….after serious consideration, weighing the pros and the cons……. yes! I would have definitely hired you!!
Great! My rate is $25.00 an hour! HAHA!
I was always “in high demand” as a teenage babysitter. I even had a babysitter’s kit that I took with me. It had books, games and crafts in it. I really enjoyed babysitting and thought I’d make a pretty good school teacher. I was a kindergarten aid for about 5 years and it did me in . . . not nearly as fun as I thought it would be. Fun Post today. I especially like your graphic. (will sit for food–cracked me up)
Wasn’t that graphic funny? It made me laugh when I saw it.
And you sound like SuperBabysitter! I’m impressed!
I’d still hire you. I think it’s unreasonable to expect babysitters to stay up. After all their sitting waiting. I were at home (being the parent) I would go to sleep. Why do we expect our babysitters to stay up and wait. Can’t be done. If you locked the doors and the kids were safe, and not in the S&M room, no fires going, go to sleep. I wait for my son now and have a very difficult time staying up, and I’m not 13. I first tasted cheez whiz on one of my babysitting food seeking adventures. Everytime I eat it now I think of that, (I don’t eat it often).
Thank you for your support for us non-night owl babysitters!
And so funny about the Cheez Wiz. That must have been a discovery!
Heehee, you sound like me. I was always snooping through houses for naughty books and things when I went babysitting, which was a lot. I didn’t have a problem staying awake, and didn’t freak myself out, but I did take quite a peek at what was left about the house. I cringe to think of it now, but at the time, I thought there was nothing wrong with it!
Whew! I’m glad I’m not the only babysitting snoop! I guess it was one of the perks for such a low paying job!