The Adventures of Babysitting

I recently spent 72 hours on a babysitting blitz. My nephew was here for a few days and then along with my regular Thursday charge, 2 little girls joined into the rotation. At one point there were 7 kids under 4 in my home. I was sorely outnumbered, but managed to squeak by with a little bit of sanity and a minutia of energy. Surprisingly, all the children and the house remained in tact, which I deem a success!

But, it got me thinking....

I have been babysitting my whole life, it seems. My first family placed a stool outside the crib because I was too short to lay the baby on the mattress. What were they thinking?! Anyway, I sort of pride myself on my babysitting skills...not just the skills, but I was fun, awesomely fun.

Then I had kids. Guess what, having kids is not like babysitting! It is decidedly not as much fun and somehow more fun at the same time. Because they and you never go home. And kids who learn to talk never stop. And well, you don't get a little cash in your pocket at the end of the hard days. And on top of feeding, entertaining, policing, etc, the kids - you have a million other things to do- uhm, life. Of course there are more perks and you love the little buggers, but no, not the same as babysitting. Sometimes, I put everything aside and pretend Im babysitting, just so my kids will know Im fun!

So, there is babysitting and then there is parenting, and then there is babysitting as a parent. It's a whole new ball game folks. I still want to be the best babysitter around, without favoring anyone, except that sometimes I can't help but favor my kids. I want my kids to have fun when other kids join our household and that is a whole new set of pressures. Ill keep doing it though, because I like the extra dough to finance adventures and Im hoping my kids are having fun.