Jezebel 
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New York, 8:36 PM
Tue Dec 1
74 posts in the last 24 hours
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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