I babysat regularly for 2 families starting at around 13/14, ending at around 21. I got along well with the kids, was responsible and reliable, never had a boyfriend over, and made a decent living at that age.
Later, when I was getting my Masters and after I'd had a "real" job in NYC, I nannied part time for 3 boys. Other families would constantly ask where they had "found" me, and I was always being asked if I'd work for someone else. Apparently I just have an easy way with kids. Helps to have a good sense of humor and arts and crafts skills.
Although I'm back in a "career" now, I think back on nannying and see how challenging and rewarding it was in a lot of ways. And that before that, babysitting taught me a lot about responsibility and independence.
They also taught me that I don't want kids of my own, but I love other people's as a teacher. I think more girls would discover how difficult child rearing is if they did more of that, and a lot more people how thankless nannying can be if they had to do it for a few years.
@tiredfairy: That's strange, my experience nannying taught me that I definitely wanted my own children and that I allowed myself to get too attached to the little ones I was with for nearly three years. I found out: I want to be a mother, very, very much. I just saw the kids this summer after being away for a year and the littlest one told me, "Jenloveshercurves, I miss you every day." My heart broke.
Neither I nor any of the mothers I know hire teen babysitters -- to a person, we all only use professional, adult babysitters from one of the various nanny services in town. It's more expensive, but there's no way in hell I'm going to leave my child with someone who is a child him- or herself. I know how clueless and irresponsible I was when I babysat.
Now I realize this has a lot to do with economics and in more middle class areas there are probably more teen babysitters, but with the number of responsible, mature adults who willing to get paid $15/hr to watch your baby, why would you employ a kid?
@chiken: I didn't realize what a horrible babysitter I was as a teen until I started babysitting again this summer as a 24 year old. I'm in law school, and took an unpaid internship, so I wanted a little income that wasn't the commitment of a part time job. It's seriously the easiest, most flexible, and fairly lucrative job I've held. The two or three years in undergrad working as an assistant K teacher really helped.
I guess I thought babysitting was beneath me after I graduated high school, but seriously, for parents and people looking for a side job, hiring an adult is a great idea. Plus, since I don't have kids, I don't mind taking over for Saturday night date nights, I can go out whenever I want the rest of the week!
Nannying on the other hand...not sure I'd ever do that again. Dodai really did have a point about seeing your nanny as a servant and your babysitter as more of an equal.
@chiken: I think a lot of teenage babysitters work for families they know personally, either socially or through a mother's helper/camp counselor deal.
I also think price is a big issue and in the NYC metro I'd expect more than you're paying. I made $15/hr in my late teen years. If I were going to do it now as a fully grown adult who is a native speaker of english (this is a big issue some places), I'd ask for $25/hr and I haven't babysat for non family members in years.
My only significant babysitting experience comes from a boy when he was 9-10. I was going through a really bad, lonely time in my life, and seeing this intelligent little person every day after I had my anonymous lectures at college and he had school was just what I needed. As an only child with no cousins I had no one younger to be around, and when I was in elementary school I was a pariah. Those were definitely the worst years of my life. Having this kid to talk to about books, movies and music taught me that kids can be kind people, something I never really learned. I wouldn't take it back for anything.
I'm 23 and out of work, and trying to get babysitting jobs to supplement unemployment, but most people are finding cheaper ways to make sure their kids are being taken care of these days. Or I'm too old.
One of the girls who babysat me is now a close friend of mine in adulthood...she could mortify me from here to next week with some of the things I did as a kid!
I babysat a lot when I was a teenager. Mostly it was just for cousins but I did babysit a couple kids after school a few afternoons a week for two years. I loved it. I loved playing with them. The kids thought I was the best babysitter they ever had (which meant a lot to me at the time). I think what set me apart from other sitters was that I played with them and I talked to them like equals. The kids were usually in the 7-11 range so I didn't baby them. For me babysitting was a great experience and helped feed my cd addiction.
I never really experienced the creepy dad thing because half the dads were related to me (although I know creeps can sometimes be relatives) and the other half were just great guys. They were good men, great dads and I never had an issue. I was also a stereotypical baby dyke but I like to think that had I dressed differently, I would have had the same experience.
@nkstr: I babysit a 4 year-old and I talk to him like a real person. Of course, I treat him appropriately for his age, but I don't try to dumb everything down for him. The few times that I accidentally have, he's called me out! ("No! A spider is NOT an insect!")
Part of this so-called trope is pretty easy to deconstruct...women of a certain age who have had children and are working on keeping marriages together are understandably uneasy around young, blithe, dewey-fresh girls who get themselves comfy and familiar around the family and are accessible to their husbands.
I loved babysitting when I was younger. I used to watch the children of two different families a lot. In fact, on more than one occasion, I came back from colllege and watched them instead of my sister. Both families brought their kids to my high school graduations and one family came to my wedding.
I took all kinds of courses on CPR, and a babysitting type course offered by the Red Cross (maybe? I was thirteen?). I printed up flyers and everything. I was a very good babysitter, mainly due to paranoia. I was freaked out that if I wasn't where the kids were, they would hurt themselves and I would get in trouble.
I know as a teen nerd, I was in high demand in my neighborhood as a "good influence" - and the fact that I was always free on a Saturday night didn't hurt, either.
Oh my god. Exactly. I really was a nerd wasn't I? A huge huge nerd.
Also, to comment on male babysitters, a teacher friend of mine hired one of her 16 year-old students that she had come to know quite well, since she has three young boys, and they just ADORED having a cool older guy hang out with them and do "boy stuff." If I ever have sons, I would definitely hire a trustworthy male babysitter with the hopes that they'd listen a little better than they would to some cootie-ridden girl.
It goes without saying that any gender has to be responsible and good with children. A 16 year-old boy with lots of younger cousins or siblings might be a much better babysitter than a 13 year-old female only child, yet somehow the former is much more rare.
Pretend to be a mommy pterodactyl, build a cave of blankets, construct zebra-striped gila monster out of clay, build Tinker Toys moon rover, be told that I am SO AWESOME AT TINKER TOYS (thanks, I know!), read book, sit on the couch until 11 pm or so and work on lesson plans, collect $40 to $50, go spend it at the bar.
Best job ever. Exact same thing I was doing at age 11 (minus the lesson planning and post-childcare drinking), but more than twice the money now that I am an "adult."
Also, a big shout-out to Ann M. Martin who had a seriously awesome, diverse, and RESPONSIBLE group of young ladies to act as my role models/source of literary entertainment in the early 90s.
Except how the hell did they get jobs if Stacy was the only one who could stay out until 10 pm?
Speaking of the slutty babysitter stereotype. I always just wore whatever crappy clothes I didn't care about when I babysat, and one chilly autumn night circa 2002 this meant holey jeans with pink leggings underneath and an inside-out hood-less sweatshirt. So yeah, I looked terrible.
Normally I drove myself, but this night the family was out too late (I legally couldn't drive after 1 AM because of the "intermediate license" laws in my state) and the dad had to drive me home in his sports car.
It was 1:30 AM, in a flashy car, with a way older man, and we stopped for gas and I swear to God the other patrons thought I was a prostitute or something. The looks I was getting were NOT friendly! Most uncomfortable I've ever been in my life.
I used to be my own one-girl Babysitter's Club, complete with ads in the paper. I used to work 20-40 hours a week in the summers with a few standing appointments during the school year. For me, it was a really good experience where I learned to deal with money and employers. I also genuinely like children and would rather play with them than watch TV (I never would have had the gall to make personal calls while working, I rarely do it at office jobs).
I dealt with several creepy dads, but I think a lot of them probably just didn't know how to interact with a girl my age. Part of them still saw themselves as teenage boys and didn't realize they were creepy old men to me.
I learned a lot about family dynamics from babysitting. Some fathers weren't creepy, just bad dads, and they all ended up divorced (one went on to a mail order bride). I babysat a 12 year old boy one summer, which I found kind of odd, but there was also a giant stack of porno mags easily accessible to him in their basement, so I don't think those folks really understood 12 year olds. Some families would tell me not to let the kids watch TV, but not understand that doesn't work well when the kids watch so much TV they have the schedules memorized.
@clevernamehere: I had the exact opposite problem. The summer after high school I nannied for a family in which the mother wouldn't allow the kids to do ANYTHING but watch TV. No setting up a car wash, no going to the park, no coloring, no swimming. 4 am to 4 pm was a nightmare. I was paid well, but not allowed to eat anything other than one hot pocket all day. The kids were great and the dad was a really nice guy though.
I used to put the TV on mute and have the kids used closed captions to act out Dora the Explorer themselves (oh yeah, the TVs were locked on G programming only for a 9 year old boy and 11 year old girl). One day I declared no TV and turned it off and the little boy literally fell to the floor sobbing and clutching my legs as he wailed "but I LIKE TV!".
@TryScience: Holy shit, that's creepy. What the hell are those children going to be like as adults? They will have no idea how to entertain themselves. I don't know why I find this so disturbing, but I do.
Growing up, my grandma always babysat us or my aunt and it was so boring. They were family so they didn't have to play with us. I'd get stuck sitting there while my aunt watched Love Boat & Fantasy Island. I was always jealous of the kids I knew who got actual babysitters that would play with them.
07/30/09
Later, when I was getting my Masters and after I'd had a "real" job in NYC, I nannied part time for 3 boys. Other families would constantly ask where they had "found" me, and I was always being asked if I'd work for someone else. Apparently I just have an easy way with kids. Helps to have a good sense of humor and arts and crafts skills.
Although I'm back in a "career" now, I think back on nannying and see how challenging and rewarding it was in a lot of ways. And that before that, babysitting taught me a lot about responsibility and independence.
They also taught me that I don't want kids of my own, but I love other people's as a teacher. I think more girls would discover how difficult child rearing is if they did more of that, and a lot more people how thankless nannying can be if they had to do it for a few years.
07/31/09
07/30/09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3D70qDs6rY&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Ffr%3Dytff1-msgr%26p%3Ddar%2520williams%2520babysitters%2520here%26ei%3DUTF-8%26type%3D&feature=player_embedded
07/30/09
07/30/09
Now I realize this has a lot to do with economics and in more middle class areas there are probably more teen babysitters, but with the number of responsible, mature adults who willing to get paid $15/hr to watch your baby, why would you employ a kid?
07/30/09
I guess I thought babysitting was beneath me after I graduated high school, but seriously, for parents and people looking for a side job, hiring an adult is a great idea. Plus, since I don't have kids, I don't mind taking over for Saturday night date nights, I can go out whenever I want the rest of the week!
Nannying on the other hand...not sure I'd ever do that again. Dodai really did have a point about seeing your nanny as a servant and your babysitter as more of an equal.
07/30/09
I also think price is a big issue and in the NYC metro I'd expect more than you're paying. I made $15/hr in my late teen years. If I were going to do it now as a fully grown adult who is a native speaker of english (this is a big issue some places), I'd ask for $25/hr and I haven't babysat for non family members in years.
07/30/09
I'm 23 and out of work, and trying to get babysitting jobs to supplement unemployment, but most people are finding cheaper ways to make sure their kids are being taken care of these days. Or I'm too old.
07/30/09
07/30/09
I never really experienced the creepy dad thing because half the dads were related to me (although I know creeps can sometimes be relatives) and the other half were just great guys. They were good men, great dads and I never had an issue. I was also a stereotypical baby dyke but I like to think that had I dressed differently, I would have had the same experience.
07/30/09
07/30/09
It's a pretty fundamental insecurity.
07/30/09
I took all kinds of courses on CPR, and a babysitting type course offered by the Red Cross (maybe? I was thirteen?). I printed up flyers and everything. I was a very good babysitter, mainly due to paranoia. I was freaked out that if I wasn't where the kids were, they would hurt themselves and I would get in trouble.
07/30/09
Oh my god. Exactly. I really was a nerd wasn't I? A huge huge nerd.
*le sigh*
07/30/09
It goes without saying that any gender has to be responsible and good with children. A 16 year-old boy with lots of younger cousins or siblings might be a much better babysitter than a 13 year-old female only child, yet somehow the former is much more rare.
07/30/09
Pretend to be a mommy pterodactyl, build a cave of blankets, construct zebra-striped gila monster out of clay, build Tinker Toys moon rover, be told that I am SO AWESOME AT TINKER TOYS (thanks, I know!), read book, sit on the couch until 11 pm or so and work on lesson plans, collect $40 to $50, go spend it at the bar.
Best job ever. Exact same thing I was doing at age 11 (minus the lesson planning and post-childcare drinking), but more than twice the money now that I am an "adult."
Also, a big shout-out to Ann M. Martin who had a seriously awesome, diverse, and RESPONSIBLE group of young ladies to act as my role models/source of literary entertainment in the early 90s.
Except how the hell did they get jobs if Stacy was the only one who could stay out until 10 pm?
07/30/09
Normally I drove myself, but this night the family was out too late (I legally couldn't drive after 1 AM because of the "intermediate license" laws in my state) and the dad had to drive me home in his sports car.
It was 1:30 AM, in a flashy car, with a way older man, and we stopped for gas and I swear to God the other patrons thought I was a prostitute or something. The looks I was getting were NOT friendly! Most uncomfortable I've ever been in my life.
07/30/09
I dealt with several creepy dads, but I think a lot of them probably just didn't know how to interact with a girl my age. Part of them still saw themselves as teenage boys and didn't realize they were creepy old men to me.
I learned a lot about family dynamics from babysitting. Some fathers weren't creepy, just bad dads, and they all ended up divorced (one went on to a mail order bride). I babysat a 12 year old boy one summer, which I found kind of odd, but there was also a giant stack of porno mags easily accessible to him in their basement, so I don't think those folks really understood 12 year olds. Some families would tell me not to let the kids watch TV, but not understand that doesn't work well when the kids watch so much TV they have the schedules memorized.
07/30/09
I used to put the TV on mute and have the kids used closed captions to act out Dora the Explorer themselves (oh yeah, the TVs were locked on G programming only for a 9 year old boy and 11 year old girl). One day I declared no TV and turned it off and the little boy literally fell to the floor sobbing and clutching my legs as he wailed "but I LIKE TV!".
07/31/09
07/30/09
07/30/09