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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Adventures in Babysitting


When I was in High School - many, many, MANY years ago - I babysat for several families on a regular basis. Some were from the neighborhood, some from the church I attended with my family, and occasionally for friends of my parents. On the rare occasion I did refuse a babysitting job, and this was because the child had a major behaviour problem, and the parents just didn't want to discipline their children.
One of the families I babysat for lived right across the back yard of my family home. Which was pretty cool. The parents had a little more time to get themselves ready to go out, without having to hurry to pick me up. In the winter, the dad would shovel a path from their back door to our back door so I wouldn't have to walk all the way around to their house. Now how cool was that? Michelle and Greg were basically good kids, I enjoyed watching them. But as Greg got older, he became rebellious and harder to handle. One summer he actually tried to set our back yard on fire with a book of matches. One of the other neighborhood kids alerted my parents to what Greg had done, and needless to say my parents had to mention it to Greg's parents. I know he was punished for what he had done, and apologized for his actions. But sadly Greg's behavior worsened, and the family eventually moved someplace out in the country, a few months after the fire incident.
Another family I babysat for, was one of my dads business partners. Now these kids were the absolute best !!! Cheryl was 4, Doug was 18 months, and Kara was 6 months old when I started babysitting them. They were always happy, Cheryl loved playing games and was always wanting to help with her brother and sister. When Kara started talking she and her brother were always asking for me to come over to watch them. When it was bedtime, the girls were always ready to go without hesitation. But Doug on the other hand, hated bedtime. He would go and hide behind the couch. So I would help the girls into their jammies, tuck them in and read a bedtime story, then I would go and get Doug from behind the couch, which was fairly easy. All he really wanted was a little snack before bedtime. He would go to bed happy and sleep through the night. One evening, when I was over there, right before they went out for the evening, mom had mentioned to me that Doug always woke up crying around 1 AM, but he never did the evenings I babysat. When I told her I always gave him a little snack before bed, they started doing the same. To this day she mentions " It took the babysitter to figure that out for us." We both get a good laugh from that one.
I also babysat for a young boy named Mark for 4 years. He was 5 at the time and his parents had been divorced for a couple of years when I started caring for him. Right off , his mom told me he could be a handful, but I quickly realized he was just a bright child who got bored easily, and needed a little extra attention. Mark absolutely loved playing board games, so when I would go over there, I occasionally brought a game along , and in time his mom bought more games for me to play with him. Marks all time favorite was Uno. He'd always work so hard to try and beat me, and when he did, he would jump around whooping it up like a crazy kid !! I got the biggest laugh out him doing it. About a year after I graduated from High school, Mark and his mom moved to Florida. Her then fiance' transferred to a Police Department down there, and she found a higher paying job, which was a big plus for her too.
Over the years I often thought about some of the kids I took care of, so a few months ago I started to inquire about them. Most are married and have children of their own. Some have had troubled adult lives, and tragically, one of the boys passed away in an automobile accident his sophomore year of college.
Cheryl, Doug and Kara have done well for themselves. They all attended college, Cheryl lives in Michigan with her husband and kids, and has a great job. Doug has a supervisor position in the company his family business, and Kara is a speech therapist in Illinois, and married a wonderful man this past summer.
I finally made contact with Mark this past week. He was surprised and happy that I took the time to find him. He's married and is a successful attorney in Florida. I am very proud of him. He had the drive and determination to become a successful compassionate adult, who gets joy out of helping others. But on a side note, I saw a recent picture of him and I have to admit that I swooned !!! Mark is one gorgeous adult !! I thought that John Kennedy Jr was hot, but by my admission, Mark is hotter ! Hooooooooooooooo!!!!
Unfortunately I haven't been able to find out what happened to Michelle and her brother Greg. I hope that things turned out well for Greg, we all deserve a good life, and I will pray he found his way, and made a good life for himself.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Such a great story! I never had a baby sitting job growing up but I did run a daycare out of my home once. I often wonder about the kids that were under my care. I see a few of them from time to time. They still yell "Miss Martha" when they see me.

There are a couple of kids I've thought of over the years, wondering, their parents moved, divorced, remarried and the kids always seemed lost in the shuffle and I wonder how they are now. They would be in their late 20's now.

Thanks for the wonderful trip down memory lane.

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