by M. J. Joachim

Created on: February 02, 2009

Necessary Babysitter Information

Babysitters are hired to take care of your children. They are not hired to fix your family, or become your best friend. While they expected to be trustworthy, reliable, and friendly, babysitters do not need to receive a lot of personal information about your family.

I like to follow a few basic guidelines when sharing family information. To do so, I ask myself some basic questions. The answers determine whether I should share personal family details with other family members, friends, acquaintances, or babysitters.

Questions to Consider

1. Is the information necessary to protect my child? There are times when people need to know personal information because it is in the best interest of everyone to be informed. No one should be left uninformed where safety is concerned.

2. Is the information I want to share verified? Gossip can ruin people. It not only hurts the person being talked about, but also the people spreading rumors. If the information might be false, I avoid sharing it with anyone.

3. Does the information matter? There are some things about my family that no one needs to know. It's not because they're bad. They just aren't that important.

4. How will I feel if the information I share ends up on the internet? Unfortunately, this is a sign of the times. With the simple stroke of a keyboard, people can put all sorts of things on the internet, while giving it their own twist to make it more interesting.

With these questions in mind, I have determined that it is important to share certain things with my babysitter, while using prudence when sharing other information.

Necessary Information

1. Allergies: It is important to let babysitters know if your child will have an adverse reaction to certain foods and substances. Children don't understand some of the restrictions placed on them, especially if they developed an allergy recently. Babysitters need to be informed of all allergies for the well being of the family.

2. Emergency Contacts: Having a print out of people to call in an emergency is vital. It is not necessary to give your babysitter access to your address book or computer though.

3. Specific Instructions: If family conflicts are playing out, it is important to give the babysitter instructions about specific situations. This is vital if Dad is having a hard time dealing with recent divorce proceedings. Maybe grandma, who used to babysit all the time, has been diagnosed with dementia. The babysitter needs to know what to do in

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