Ok, so I think the last time I babysat anyone was when I was 14 or 15. I used to babysit for the couple who lived across the street from my parents house. They had two rambunctious boys who loved to wrestle but were never too much to handle. I don't think (thankfully) I have ever had a really bad experience babysitting. So when I was approached to babysit a coworkers kids at the age of 22, I didn't think twice. Tax free cash in my pocket for a few hours on a Friday night... Sure! But then I started to think... do I remember how to do this?!?!? EEK! So here was my list of things to ( and not to) do.
1. Keep them occupied: Nothing worse than having the kids say "I'm bored" or "You are no fun". So what did we do? Took every book, puzzle and game out and played them all. Another upside, it will distract them from the fact Mom is gone and it will make them tired.
2. Keep sugar intake to a minimum: Somewhat of a failure. I may or may not have given in and given them both some vanilla ice cream... oops! I couldn't help it! They were being so good and they gave me the puppy face! And then they were on a sugar high for the next 30 min...
3. Get them to bed on time: Well, Dora the Explorer was on, and then her counterpart Diego I guess left to do his own show and that was on after... So we started getting ready for bed at 7:45 for a 8 pm bed time. After a diaper change, struggle with PJs, reading two books and singing Ittsy Bittsy Spider (with hand motions) they were in bed. Now, the falling asleep, yea that took 3 trips up the stairs to say "Ella... it is time for bed.. put the toy down." The 2 year old had finished his bottle by then and proceeded to bang it across the bars on his crib like an inmate with a tin cup. Once the distractions were removed and I checked for monsters they eventually tuckered themselves out.
4. Don't mess up the TV: I was babysitting once for a family friend when I was like 13 or 14 and the kids had been asleep and I was watching TV. Now this was back when having over 100 channels was unheard of. No one had them, except for the well off, which this family was. Needless to say I had no idea how to use the remote. The show I had found had ended so I was flipping through the channels and found a title that sounded interesting and started watching. About 5 min into the show I realized I had stumbled across the "adult" channels. I immediately freaked out and panicked and tried to change the channel quickly but ended up hitting a button that just turned the TV to fuzz. I tried and tried to figure out how to turn it back on but again I had no idea how to work this thing! About 10 min later the parents came home. I think its safe to say that when they fixed their TV they found the station I had been on when it went haywire. I never was asked to babysit at that home again... I am now more familiar with having hundreds of channels and ended up watching Princess and the Frog..good G rated movie.. more my speed :o)
5. Keep the kids alive: Success!!
1. Keep them occupied: Nothing worse than having the kids say "I'm bored" or "You are no fun". So what did we do? Took every book, puzzle and game out and played them all. Another upside, it will distract them from the fact Mom is gone and it will make them tired.
2. Keep sugar intake to a minimum: Somewhat of a failure. I may or may not have given in and given them both some vanilla ice cream... oops! I couldn't help it! They were being so good and they gave me the puppy face! And then they were on a sugar high for the next 30 min...
3. Get them to bed on time: Well, Dora the Explorer was on, and then her counterpart Diego I guess left to do his own show and that was on after... So we started getting ready for bed at 7:45 for a 8 pm bed time. After a diaper change, struggle with PJs, reading two books and singing Ittsy Bittsy Spider (with hand motions) they were in bed. Now, the falling asleep, yea that took 3 trips up the stairs to say "Ella... it is time for bed.. put the toy down." The 2 year old had finished his bottle by then and proceeded to bang it across the bars on his crib like an inmate with a tin cup. Once the distractions were removed and I checked for monsters they eventually tuckered themselves out.
4. Don't mess up the TV: I was babysitting once for a family friend when I was like 13 or 14 and the kids had been asleep and I was watching TV. Now this was back when having over 100 channels was unheard of. No one had them, except for the well off, which this family was. Needless to say I had no idea how to use the remote. The show I had found had ended so I was flipping through the channels and found a title that sounded interesting and started watching. About 5 min into the show I realized I had stumbled across the "adult" channels. I immediately freaked out and panicked and tried to change the channel quickly but ended up hitting a button that just turned the TV to fuzz. I tried and tried to figure out how to turn it back on but again I had no idea how to work this thing! About 10 min later the parents came home. I think its safe to say that when they fixed their TV they found the station I had been on when it went haywire. I never was asked to babysit at that home again... I am now more familiar with having hundreds of channels and ended up watching Princess and the Frog..good G rated movie.. more my speed :o)
5. Keep the kids alive: Success!!
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