Babysitting Tips!

The 4 kids that I babysit every
Tuesday

              
As a teenager in high school, we will do whatever it takes for us to get a little extra cash on our hands. During the summer you see a lot of teens doing yard work like mowing the lawn and gardening. One job that is basically a year round job is babysitting. Even though it can be hard work and very stressful at times, for the most part it pays pretty well plus you get to be with kids all night. Who doesn't like to be with kids, right?

                When it comes to babysitting, there are so many different responsibilities that come with it that may not always be the same as your previous house. One job that definitely varies from house to house is the diaper changing. If you an infant or a toddler on your hands, you become a pro pretty quickly at changing those stinky diapers. Another job that you most likely will have (especially if you're babysitting during the evening hours) is getting them fed. Sometimes the parents will have the food already prepared and then all you have to do is serve it to the kids. Other times you might need to bring out your cooking skills. When in doubt, go with Mac and Cheese.

                It's always nice when you're a family's regular babysitter. Every Tuesday night I babysit somewhere between 3.5-4 hours for this family. While the parents are off at a bible study group, I get the privilege to be with their 4 precious kids; two boys and two girls. The two boys are the oldest with the ages of 9 and 8 which means the 2 girls are the youngest with the ages of 6 and 3. Yes, you would think 4 kids for one teenage girl like me would get way out of hand very easily, but actually it's not challenging at all. I love all 4 of them, and wouldn't replace anything for them.

The kids

                Like I mentioned earlier, babysitting can become extremely stressful at times, but in reality it's also such a blessing at the same time. For starters,we can all say that the high school life can be pretty challenging at times. Either drama with friends, trying to keep our grades up, or all our activities we're involved in; whatever it is we have so much pressure to jungle underneath our feet. For me, whenever I'm over and watching the 4 little cuties, all my stress and worries become invisible. Being with kids is like a mini therapy. Yeah, their kids, so you obviously can't rant to them about how stressed out you are, but you get the chance to see things from a kids perspective and sometimes even become one while being with them.

                Some ways to make babysitting fun and to go by faster are by having activities planned out for the kids to do. If it's a nice a day, maybe take them out in their backyard or go for a walk throughout the neighborhood. The kiddos that I babysit for love to be adventurous and could spend the whole day outside. Just yesterday when I was over at their house we spent about an hour or so just playing soccer out in their backyard. Let's just say that I might have gotten beat by some 9 and 8 year old boys.

                Even though babysitting can be kind of time consuming, it's totally worth it in the end. The more you put yourself out there and offer to babysit, the more you start to like children and start a bond with them. Having a child wrap their arms around you and fall asleep in your lap is one of the best feelings ever!