topic Re: Did you Baby Sit? in Community Chat

Did you Baby Sit?

QVCkitty1 — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:00:20 GMT

The summer job post got me thinking about my babysitting days. I didn't really enjoy it, but I was good at it so I had lots of customers. My worst job was when I was in college and I had a regular very well paying gig with some well to do parents who didn't believe in saying no to their children. The kids weren't too bad , but they were no picnic. I was really glad when a waitress job in a local bar opened up. I often wonder how those kids turned out.

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

Meowingkitty — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:02:52 GMT

Nope. I had no desire to babysit.

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

chickenbutt — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:03:25 GMT

I did. If I wanted lunch money I had to make it myself, as a kid. Fifty cents an hour.

I only remember one family with some little hellians. That was awful, but I did it. Now - no freaking way.

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

Drythe — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:13:57 GMT

No, but I always had 'jobs' of some sort until I started 'real' work at 15.

Just not my gig.

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

happycat — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:14:37 GMT

Good Grief @chickenbutt, I'm sorry.

I did babysit some. And I helped mom with my little sisters all the time.

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

Irshgrl31201 — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:17:44 GMT

I sure did. I took CPR classes from the Red Cross in 7th grade and I spent the whole summer of 7th grade babysitting and saving money. By Sept I had over $2500 saved up. I never said no that summer to anyone unless I was already babysitting. I started at $2/hr which was the going rate where I lived but by then I went up to $3.50.

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

deepwaterdotter — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:20:14 GMT

I used to sit with the four sons of a family that lived a block from my house. They were good kids and entertained each other. I felt secure knowing that if I ran into a stressful situation, my parents could quickly come to my rescue. Their father always drove me home to my front door and waited until I was inside at the end of the evening (my parents insisted). As much as sitting with these boys was a pleasant experience and easy money, it helped to make me realize that I didn't want to be a parent.

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

LUVNLIFE — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:23:09 GMT

I did when I was 12. It was for one family, a few houses down from mine. They had 4. Ages 1yr. to 6 yrs. old. I love babies and kids-still do. I was terrible at making meals for them. I would burn the grilled cheese and spagettios (no microwave) LOL.

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

CareBears — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:23:39 GMT

It seems that is all I did, for 2 years in a row every day after school until 6:00 P.M., and then 3 summers in a row, 40 hours per week and I was paid $30.00.

I stopped babysitting when the families in my neighborhood started hiring me to babysit 2-3 families at one time, but I only received pay from 1 of them and I had anywhere from 4-6 kids, even at that young age I knew I was getting ripped off, LOL!

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

QVCkitty1 — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:28:44 GMT

@luvnlife wrote:
I did when I was 12. It was for one family, a few houses down from mine. They had 4. Ages 1yr. to 6 yrs. old. I love babies and kids-still do. I was terrible at making meals for them. I would burn the grilled cheese and spagettios (no microwave) LOL.

I had a couple of kids who always wanted me back, because I didn't burn the popcorn. The bar was not set awfully high. LOL.

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

Snowpuppy — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:33:48 GMT

@chickenbutt wrote:
I did. If I wanted lunch money I had to make it myself, as a kid. Fifty cents an hour.

I only remember one family with some little hellians. That was awful, but I did it. Now - no freaking way.

Me, too. Didn't even get an allowance so I had to get $ to buy my monthly needs myself. Sitting for same awful kids for just change. No tip.

Didn't care about lunch money but my school had a vending machine with paperback books which I loved!

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

RedTop — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:38:39 GMT

My last year of high school, I rode the bus home with 3 girls who were 5, 8 and 10, and stayed with them until their parents got home from work. All I had to do was fix them something to eat, get them started on homework, and keep them inside the house. The hardest part of the job was keeping them inside the house!

I didn't enjoy the job; was thankful when it ended, and never baby sat again.

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

MarthaStewardess — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:45:31 GMT

No. Not something I've ever wanted to do then or now. My mother wouldn't have let me do that anyway. Lol, she wouldn't babysit either, other than looking after me.

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

Mz iMac — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:55:23 GMT

I babysat my 2 younger brothers. Of course I was not paid, it was expected of me. Does that count?

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

CANDLEQUEEN — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 20:02:27 GMT

I did not babysit, but I did have a job during the summers in high school at one of movie theatres, and I had a blast!!!!!

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

SeaMaiden — Sat, 18 Mar 2017 00:17:26 GMT

Yes, I baby sat a lot in my teen years...neighbors kids etc. in my 20's I nannnied a lot with new borns and older kids ...even live in situations. Funny thing is that I was really great with kids and they loved me, but, I chose not to have children of my own!

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

Bri36 — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 20:39:34 GMT

Yes, I babysat the kids across the street for years - every Friday or Saturday until they moved. I made a lot of money. Lol

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

chrystaltree — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 20:40:35 GMT

Yes I did. In 10th and 11th grade, I baby sat for a relative. It was actually rather easy and she was a relative and paid really well. She was taking college classes at night and I worked 2 nights a week and half a day on Saturday. The nights, I fed the kids and gave them their baths and put them to bed. Saturday mornings, she went to the library to study and I took care of the kids from from 8-noon...or something like that.

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

Caligurll — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 21:14:31 GMT

Yes, I did, starting around age 12 or 13. One of the families I sat for had the best behaved kids. I didn't have to remind or tell them to do anything, and they let me know when it was time for them to go to bed. They made sure I ate the snacks their parents left for me also.

On the other end of the spectrum, was my sister's husband's brother's kids. Oh my. The son actually tried to tie me to a chair one time. They were both very active and it was exhausting sitting (or standing and chasing) them. I felt like I couldn't say no when I was asked to sit for them since they were family. They did pay better than other families. I also sat for my nieces and nephew.

During summer vacation I worked picking tomatoes until I was 16 and got my driver's license, then I went to work at the local Dairy Delight working after school, weekends, and summers. My last job while I was living at home was driving a truck during rice harvest. My sister's best friend got the job for me and told the farmer I knew how to drive a truck (they were dump trucks), which I didn't, so she had to give me a crash course on how to operate the dump function of the truck. I was able to pick it up quickly so as far as I know the farmer never knew how clueless I was that first day.

Re: Did you Baby Sit?

Catty2 — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 21:19:49 GMT

I did a lot of babysitting as a teenager, mostly on the street I lived on. There were mainly 3 different families I babysat for, ranging from 1 child to 5 children. It was a good way to make money at the time.