Babysitting brings out different emotions in everyone, but is a great learning experience for all teens. Before this year (my sophomore year in high school), I wasn’t very fond of kids. Over the summer however, I worked at my local swimming pool as a lifeguard and found that I actually love kids! Thankfully my job guarding opened up doors to babysitting! At first I was rather intimidated by the idea of watching someone else's kids, but eventually I came around. Here are some tips and tricks I have learned to babysitting! Prepare! Treat babysitting like you would school. By this I mean have a craft, game, or activity ready to go. Usually I like to bring crafts because it excites the kids and gives them something to do. The kids love when you focus the craft around the time of year. For instance, if I were to babysit in February, I would bring a Valentine’s …show more content…
Before the parents leave, make a list of questions including: allergies, emergency numbers, bedtimes, etcetera. This shows you will be attentive to the children and allows the parents to put trust in your hands. Put your phone away! As a kid, I remember the best part about having a babysitter was being able to hang out with a super cool high schooler all night! I hated when my babysitter was glued to her phone, not playing any games with me. So put your phone away and spend some time playing around, it's only a few hours! Report to the parents! When you finish babysitting discuss with the parents anything that happened or anything you think they should know that happened. It could be something as simple as, “Sally had trouble falling asleep,” but they love to know what went on. Again, this shows you were attentive to their children while they were out. Be kind to the kids, but make sure they know who’s boss! As much as you want to be the fun babysitter there are definitely boundaries. Make sure the kids respect you and the boundaries you set. Never lose your patience, but be stern when