Being a babysitter can be one of the easiest jobs out there. It can also be a fun job if the children are good and listen to what you say. However, there are many things that make being a babysitter difficult. Here are some things babysitters hate about babysitting.
1. When The Parents Stay Home
Often times people call a babysitter just so they can get something done at home, and this is not enjoyable for the babysitter. You can't speak and act how you normally would around the kids when the parents aren't home. You act sillier and funnier when there are no parents to watch you, but when they're home, you just feel weird and have to be quiet.
2. When The Parents Don't Come Home On Time
Sometimes this is an accident and the parents are just having a fun night out, so you understand if they come home later than planned. Other times, especially during the day, the parents just want to get away from their crazy children for longer so they leave you to put up with them.
3. Awkward First Time Introductions
When you first go to someone's house to babysit, it can be a little awkward saying hello to the parents and introducing yourself. It's also weird getting to know the kids and saying hello to them in front of the parents. It's especially awkward if the kid runs and hides behind their mom. This leaves you thinking, "This is going to be a good night, I can already tell."
4. When You're Left To Fend For Yourself
Sometimes parents don't tell you where things are in the house (like food), so you have to dig around searching for snacks when you know you're going to be there late. Or, if you're doing dishes/cleaning up after dinner, you have to look around the kitchen and open all the cabinets and drawers in order to put stuff away. The stove, oven, and TV can also be confusing if they're different from what you're used to, so some prior instructions would be nice.
5. When Kids Don't Listen
You try to be the nice, fun babysitter so you'll get asked back often, but sometimes the kids just do not listen to you so you have to lay down the law. It is incredibly frustrating, and you can't freak out and lose your cool because then the kids might cry or tell their parents that you're a psycho who yells too much.
6. When The Kids Always Want To Play Outside Or Do Physical Activity
"Why can't we just sit and watch TV? I don't want to play outside and get all sweaty. You guys can play soccer without me, you don't need me on your team, I'll watch from this step, I'm just going to sit down." The funny thing is, when they do want to watch TV, you can't pull them away from the screen.
7. When The Kids Won't Go To Bed
Sometimes you work up a sweat trying to get the kids to bed. You try everything, bribery, trickery, and threats. Bribery tends to work the best out of those three options.
8. When The Kids Cry
This can be scary because you can't always figure out why the kid is crying, and you don't know if it's going to last all night long. You don't know how to calm this kid down and shut them up, so you find that bribery works well in this situation too, "Why don't we stay up and watch more TV? Ice cream? Anything you want."
9. When It's So Late That You Fall Asleep
Waiting for the parents to come home can be relaxing once the kids are in bed. You have some alone time with the TV, but when it gets late and you start getting tired, it can be hard to stay awake. Sometimes you fall asleep and wake up to the sound of the car pulling into the driveway. Only when you get home do you realize that you had a hand imprinted on your face from when you fell asleep on it. Then, you hope the parents 1) didn't notice, and 2) if they did, that they don't care that their children were left "unattended" while you dozed off.
10. Snow Day Babysitting
Sometimes as soon as you find out that school is canceled, mothers text you and ask you to babysit for them so they can continue doing what they do on every other school day. You usually do it because you feel obligated to help out, but you really want to enjoy your unexpected day off. Snow day babysitting usually entails playing in the new snow and building snow forts, which you may not always be in the mood to do.
11. When You Don't Get Paid Enough
After a long day or night of babysitting, it's nice to receive a good chunk of cash for dealing with sometimes crazy children, so when you get the cash, get into your car, and count your money, you can be disappointed to find that there isn't as much money there as you thought there should be. However, money is always nice to have no matter how much it is. You just feel like you should get a million bucks because you're such an expert babysitter.
