Big Bucks of Babysitting

THE SITTER

Mrs. McTwitter the baby-sitter,
I think she’s a little bit crazy.
She thinks a baby-sitter’s supposed
To sit upon the baby.

– Shel Silverstein

Lately, I’ve been thinking a bit about what my dream job will be; right now, I’m in a job I really enjoy, so I’ll go with the flow for now until I buy that winning lottery ticket. Today’s prompt got me thinking about when I started to earn money by working.

When I was a teenager, and before I got a “real” job–the one where you first realize that the minimum wage was lower than you thought because taxes were taken out of the total; I was a babysitter. I had regular gigs, the same several families in our neighborhood just about every Friday and Saturday night. A call would come on Thursday, occasionally Wednesday, afternoon to ask if I was available. For a few years every Saturday night and New Year’s Eve, was spent next door with Lynn and Jeffrey, and The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.

Typically, at the end of the night, I was paid for my “work” and almost always, it was in singles…lots and lots singles. When you’re fourteen years old with a pile of one-dollar bills in the bottom of your sock drawer, it feels like a million bucks. I must have been pretty good at the job since I was never without several dollars come Monday morning; remember, the going rate back then was only $1 an hour.

Today’s is a simple thank you to the kids who, I hope, fondly remember the books read, the games played, and the snacks eaten on all those weekend nights! Especially, Lynn, Jeff, Jodi, Alyssa, Dennis, David, Steven, Melanie, Stacy, Kristen, Mark, David, Ricky, and Christine.

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