Tuesday, February 19, 2008



Here is what our host Annie had for this weeks Time Travel Tuesday
"Travel back to your first few babysitting jobs, were you a teenager?Were there any interesting, scary, or neat experiences you remember?"
Babysitting.. WOW I could write a book on the many interesting experiences on this topic. I'll spear you all of those and just skim a few of them.
My first babysitting job was years before I was a teenager, looking back on it, it makes me wonder what this mother was thinking. There was a family in our church who use to go out weekly normally after church on Wednesday night or Sunday night and I had some older friends who they use to let babysit for them at those times.. and I remember always telling the mother I want to babysit for her also. At the time I was 10 years old and she had a 7 year old a 6 year old a 2 year old and a newborn. (oh at the time the mom was my sunday school teacher also) Well she must have though I was old enough because she called me one morning she needed to run to the grocery store and wanted me to come to her house and babysit the 2 year old and the new born.. And I did.. nothing exciting happened, the newborn was asleep when I got there only woke up once just long enough for me to put the pacie back in her mouth and the two year old and I just played the whole time. I think I was only left with them for about an hour it wasn't very long.. As a mother now.. there is no way I would leave my 2 year old and newborn with a 10 year old.. OR leave my 10 year old babysit a newborn.. crazy I tell ya.
After that I really didn't start doing the whole babysitting thing until I was 12 year old.. then I started getting calls from pretty much every family in our church and on our block.
I babysat for a doctors family who not only expected me to care for there 7 kids but also be there maid.. I would get there and she would have a list of things for me to do, such as do there laundry, do the dishes and mop and vacuum and dust. Then out of all the families I babysat for they paid me the least, and they would have been the one family I sat for who could have paid me alot more.
Then there was another family who didn't go to our church but knew me because they lived on the next road over.. They were the heavy partiers.. out drinking at the bar every weekend. They would pick me up(or if it was warm I would walk over there house) around dinner time on friday night and they would stay out till 1, 2, or 3 AM Then I would go back there on Saturday night around 5 pm and they would stay out really late again. When I started babysitting them.. they were newly married but she had 2 kids a little boy and a little girl. About two years later when I was 14.. they had one of there own.. She got home from the hospital with the baby on a friday and I went to visit her, while I was there they asked me to babysit for them on the next day.. So I got to babysit for there baby when she was 3 days old.. and yes they left at dinner time and didn't get back home till 2 AM By the time the baby was 2 years old they were going though an ugly divorce and I was babysitting for them daily after school till about 8pm That is when things got exciting because the dad was trying to steel the baby.. so I would have to call the cops and the mom if I saw him anywhere near the house(his parents lived two door over) yet he wasn't allowed that close to the girl.. There was one time he came to the door and started beating on it calling my name telling me it was ok to open it, he just left something there and needed to pick it up.. I honestly didn't know what to do.. He wouldn't leave and started to get mad that I opened the door.. so I had called the mom she was on her way but asked me if I could sneak out the back and get out of there and she would call the cops. So I got the 3 kids, who was very willing to listen to me with him out front beating on the door. and we went out the back door and though the back yards over to my house where we stayed with my parents until there mom came and got them.. I don't know what happened but after awhile the dad stopped coming around like that. But also shortly after that I started dating and that pretty much was the end of me babysitting on weekends, and shortly after that I got a job so I couldn't watch them after school.
Another babysitting job I had was for a summer every day while the parents were at work.. That job I loved.. it was for a family in our church they had two little boys and lived in an A framed house.. which I just loved that house and there boys were the best behaved kids ever.. They were 2 years old and a few months old.. I was 15 or 16 years old I think.. but it was those two little boys who made me want to be a super great mom one day.
There was another babysitting job I had for a little girl who had a brother about my age, who the parents didn't trust the brother to watch the girl so they would pay me to watch her if the brother was home or not. (UMMMMMMMMMM.. note to parents..... DON'T DO THAT) we will save those stores for another time travel tuesday when Annie ask if we ever snuck a boyfriend over while babysitting or if you ever kissed a boy while babysitting or something. ;P
For more time travelers stop by Annie's blog

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

My babysitting days were so mild compared to all the other ttt stories today! :)
Although, I did have one scary episode with my nephew hanging out of a two story window...and, ummm...the visiting boyfriend which will stay as just a side note.

Midlife Mom said...

Wow! You sure had a lot of baby sitting jobs and some at a very young age!!!!Can you imagine doing that now?!!! I did some babysitting for two young boys and one night they locked me out of the house!!! Not a good thing! ha! They finally let me back in after threatening them within an inch of their life!

Unknown said...

I didn't really babysit much. But when I did I enjoyed it. I remember a similar situation when i was a single mom. I was watching my neighbors daughter over night so she could work. Her husband did not want to watch her at nigh. Hello?? he was going to be sleeping. Any who she hid all of her things at my house one day while he was at work and left him. He was violent. He came to my house banging on the door demanding that I tell him where is wife and daughter were. I ignored him and called the police.

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Fantastagirl said...

I remember when my babysitter's boyfriend would come over on his motorcycle - he would give us rides (he was the star quarterback, and she was a head cheerleader - she watched us on Saturday nights until 11:00 and then go out with him!)

I babysat alot, but I at this moment the only thing I can remember is getting paid $1/hr to watch 4 really rowdy kids, give them supper/baths and do the days dishes.

Melanie said...

I only did a little babysitting as a teenager- mostly my brothers and they were so bad for me.

Heather said...

What stories you have! I will make a mental note to remember the comment about leaving the teenage son home when you hire a babysitter. Our J is 13 almost 14 and we don't leave the 3 younger ones home with him. But we have paid 13 year old girls to watch the kids (always on weekends he is not here) interesting... Never knew you were such a scandelous babysitter;p