Every week Retired Not Tired hosts the Memory Monday blog hop. This week's prompt is My First Job. What was your very first job? Blog about it and share your memories!
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With 3 younger sisters and a Mom who had a small home day care for years, babysitting was the perfect first job for me. Family and family friends started calling for a sitter as soon as I turned 12, and by the time I moved away for college I had cared for over 100 kids. (Don't laugh! Out of curiosity, I made a LIST of the kids I watched.) When you consider I lived on a Maine island, well, 100 kids is a whole town!
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The summer I was 13 1/2, I watched 4 kids full-time. The oldest was only a few years younger than I was and a handful at times. He was allowed to have friends over whenever he wanted, so sometimes I was watching 5 kids! (I looked forward to the days when he headed to his friends' houses instead...) The 3 younger girls behaved, but one was a toddler who was in the process of potty-training...Would you believe that I only got $2.00/hour? An exhausting, sometimes frustrating job for $16/day!
Babysitters get between $10-$15/hour for 1-2 kids now!
Near the middle of summer, the parents wanted me to do housework too! Can you imagine the pile of dirty dishes a family of 6 produces? The house was cluttered. Piles of unwashed laundry! Sticky floors! And they were fighting a battle with fleas...
:: scratch scratch ::
But I found out that I could handle the responsibility of a passel of kids for long hours, learning new "parenting" skills that I'm sure helped me with my future 'sitting jobs, becoming a teacher, and being a Mom. Every experience can be a learning one!
And those 4 kids? They're all married with kids of their own now.
I should have thought to tell of my babysitting experiences, but you have told them very well. While the children I cared for did not add up to 100, I definitely remember each one. Your pay was very good. My first year in caring for three all summer was $17.50 per week for three children. their pregnant mom and light housekeeping. The next year I kept four and thought $20 per week with no housekeeping was incredible!
ReplyDeleteFleas, too!!!! What a nightmare!
Your experience was very similar to mine, huh? Better pay though! And then I thought I was doing really well! LOL
DeleteI should have thought to tell of my babysitting experiences, but you have told them very well. While the children I cared for did not add up to 100, I definitely remember each one. Your pay was very good. My first year in caring for three all summer was $17.50 per week for three children. their pregnant mom and light housekeeping. The next year I kept four and thought $20 per week with no housekeeping was incredible!
ReplyDeleteFleas, too!!!! What a nightmare!
Babysitting was part of my growing up as well. When you come from a big family there is always someone who needs to be cared for. Good memory and thanks for participating.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! And I think as girls it's almost expected that we'll babysit at some point...
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