For about a month, I’ve been pretty busy babysitting. Being a babysitter requires social skills, time, responsibility, and creativity. Babysitting is extremely fun and I enjoy doing whatever I can to help others, so it’s something I’m doing more and more often.
I wrote this blog post for a school assignment and I thought it would be good to share with you all. Here are a few tips on how to be a great babysitter. Just kidding, these are actually some very sarcastic tips on how to be a babysitter. Enjoy!
Congrats newly minted babysitter!
Welcome to the wonderful world of babysitting! Here are a few tips on how to succeed in the babysitting industry:
1. Don’t exchange information with the parents. When you first arrive at the house, the parents will mostly likely ask for your phone number and maybe your email. Don’t give them your information and never ask for their’s. You don’t want them scamming you and remember the rules with stranger danger.
2. If you are babysitting when the kids have to go to sleep, tell them scary stories before bed. Make sure it’s scary to the point that the child is screaming and possibly crying. Kids love stories before bed, and by telling them a scary story, you accomplish another task on your babysitting list.
3. Feed the kids a bunch of candy and sugary foods. Most children love sweet treats like candy, cookies, and ice cream so give them what they love! You’ll be extremely popular with the little ones and watching them bounce off of the walls can be very entertaining.
4. Make yourself at home. A majority of parents will tell you to “make yourself at home” which basically means “get comfortable and do whatever makes you feel at home”. Eat the food, watch some T.V., and even sleep in the parents’ bed if that makes you feel at home. If you really feel like making the house feel like your own, change up the place a little and let our your inner interior designer.
5. Show the kids where all of the dangerous items are. By telling the children where the dangerous items are, they will be aware of them. Make sure the objects are visible and easy to reach just in case the kids need to defend themselves or use any of the items.
6. Leave all of the doors and windows open. Leaving the windows and doors open allows for fresh air to circulate throughout the house. Also, everyone on the outside can observe what is going on inside the house, and you, the fearless and protective babysitter, can observe everything that is happening outside so you can protect the kids.
7. Introduce the concept of procrastination to the kids if they have homework. Homework isn’t important until the night before it’s due, so emphasize that to the children. Procrastinating will improve the kids’ performance in school because performing under stress forces kids to work harder to get their homework done.
8. If the family you’re babysitting for has pets, leave the doggy door or cat door closed. The doggy door or cat door is the only way a pet can escape, so by closing off their only way of escape, you prevent them from running away.
9. Respond to every phone call the house receives. The parents don’t need any messages. You’re there to answer the phone so you will answer and make decisions for the parents.
10. Remember that YOU are in charge. You are the one getting paid, so you need to make it crystal-clear to the parents that they pay you the amount you want to be paid, you will do what you want, their children will follow your rules, and the parents arrive at home when you tell them to. If you tell the parents to be home at 9 pm, and they say they’re running late and will be there at 9:45, get out of there. The kids were your responsibility until 9 and after that, they aren’t your problem.
Good luck!
