As a babysitter, I get a unique look into what it is like to raise kids. I get to see the daily life of a mom and her children. As a student in high school, I had many different babysitting jobs, working with many different families. I have gotten to know families with many children and families with only a couple, or even one child, and while there are a lot of differences due to different people and lifestyles, I found one thing to be true across the board: despite the obstacles, messes, and mistakes, a mother’s love for her child was top priority.
From A Babysitter’s Perspective
At this point, now that I’ve been babysitting for five years and nannying for about a year, I have truly seen it all. I have been pooped on, snotted on, kicked, hit, and screamed at. One time I was babysitting, and the little girl got so upset, she tried to throw a stool at me. Thankfully, she missed me, but she got her point across!
With all the not so glamorous times there have also been plenty of moments that make it all worth it, like seeing the love that is shared between a mother and her child. I have seen the bond shared between siblings, the joy in their eyes that lights up when they see each other. I have gotten to hold sleeping babies and share in one of the most beautiful experiences of life: watching children grow up.
I went from babysitting only at nighttime while the parents went out for a few hours to nannying as my job. I worked at Domino’s and quit that about nine months ago to take a job as a nanny, and it has been such an awesome experience.
One thing that strikes me about kids is how nothing is routine. There is no rhyme or reason to what they do or why they do it, so it can be hard to predict what is going to happen on any given day. Every “work day” is different and unpredictable. While I am not a mother myself, it only causes me to imagine how there is never a dull moment in motherhood! One day the baby takes a two hour nap and the next we barely make it an hour. One day the kids are in a great mood, laughing and smiling at everything you say and do, and the next they want nothing to do with you. I never know if I’ll be greeted at the door with smiles or not. At the end of the day, though, I always get to see how much the kids love and appreciate me, and it’s beautiful to think how much greater it must be to experience that love as their mother.
While babysitting has its ups and downs as a job, I would say it is an incredibly unique experience. The ability to see the daily life of a family and be even a small part of that is something I wouldn’t trade for the world. The bonds formed and the memories made make it a job like no other.
– Alexia the Nanny
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