by Vicki Phipps

Created on: March 16, 2009

As a teen in the 70's, my dream was to teach so babysitting seemed to be the thing to do. It would be like a pre-determined destiny for me to be in charge of kids, I assume. Still, my first baby sitting job wasn't a job at all, because you see, babysitting a kid sister means you won't get paid a dime for your time. In fact, since she arrived in my life I've been asked to baby sit at least a million times. When you consider the number of kids I'd baby sit within my life time, you'd think I'd be rich, but nothing could be further from the truth. The one thing I know about the babysitting role is this: You'll never get rich, no matter how much you baby sit.

Besides being the first, my sister was the worst. I felt as if I was cursed, and since both our parents worked, I'd be expected to baby sit my sister every day of my summer break. That might have been fine, but to ask me to be more patient than any teen has the right to be with no salary and in spite of sibling rivalry, was not very wise for my parents to expect. I wonder what our mother was thinking? Did she actually believe that I'd be patient, loving and kind to my kid sister all the time? As I recall, if she bothered me at all, I'd threaten to call Santa Claus to say, "Hey, by the way, my sister does not behave, so please don't leave her anything under the Christmas tree." Of course, she'd begin to cry and threaten to call her mommy, so I'd promise to call him back and say I'd changed my mind, but only if she took a long nap, stayed asleep at least three hours or more and never bother me anymore.

Still, in spite of the fact that babysitting was not my cup of tea as a teen, and beyond the way my sister drove me insane, I was asked to baby sit every kid who lived on my street, and for what it's worth, I even baby sat for free at my church. It seems they believed that no one wants to listen to kids scream, except me. It's not that I minded, but as the oldest child in the family, I was expected to be a responsible human being, even as a teen, which seems insane to me. Even so, by the time I turned thirteen, all my aunts and uncles believed that I'd feel privileged to baby sit their kids. I must admit that it was fun sometimes, but why none of them even considered paying me anything seemed a bit ridiculous to me. When it came to family, it was simply my responsibility. Even babysitting the kids who lived on my street would mean I'd only receive 50 cents an hour, no matter how bad or how many kids they had. Looking

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>