Sit On It

Between the ages of 14 and 19 I spent most of my Saturday nights sitting in someone else's livingroom, snacking on the requisite pop and chips while their children slept in the other room. I was a Babysitter. I tell you this not to illustrate how pathetically nerdy I was during my teen years, but as background to my revelations that while I spent a significant portion of my youth watching other people's children, my own children have never had a Babysitter. Sure, The Ladies had a home daycare provider, but they've never experienced the "teenager who brings her homework to your house int he evening while your parents go out" variety of babysitter.

Until tonight.

Tonight I'm forging new territory and instead of leaving leaving The Ladies with my parents while I go out, I have engaged the services of my very first teenage babysitter.

The Ladies are beyond excited by this new development. Grandma's house has apparently lost some of its cool now that they're there nearly every day anyway, and Diva Girl especially is at the age where a 14 year old girl is the epitome of sophistication and style. Truth be told, I'm kinda excited too. Not just because I'll be seeing a movie that I want to see for once, but because this feels like a rite of passage for me as well as The Ladies--like by paying for someone to come to my house and rummage through my bathroom cabinets means that's I'm finally going out like a real grownup.

I've gone out before, of course, to dinners, movies, even on dates, but I've always dropped The Ladies off at my parents' place and then rushed to pick them up as soon as possible. It might not have been the most convenient arrangement in terms of an easy bedtime routine, but it did have some things going for it: for one thing, Grandparents baby sit for free, while teenagers require an hourly rate, plus all the junk food they can eat. Plus, a good babysitter can be hard to find. Sure, I meet a lot of teenagers through work, but somehow the idea of inviting one into my house to rifle through my underwear just hasn't seemed like a good idea, even if it did mean that the kids would be in bed when I go home. Fortunately, the fact that my high school had a boom in teenage pregnancies in the early nineties means I didn't have to resort to that extreme: My friends' daughters are now the perfect age for use as indentured servants--er...Babysitters.

So, tonight when I go out (by myself!!!) there will be no rushing (unless you count rushing out the door). Tonight I'll be taking my time getting home, knowing that even if they're not sleeping, The Ladies will at least be in bed when I get home. And, when I give the Babysitter her instructions, point out the emergency numbers, tell her where to find the Tylenol and the hidden stash of potato chips, I'll feel a little bit of nostalgia for the awkward, geeky girl who spent so many years listening to the same litany, but mostly pleased with myself that I'm finally on the other end of that conversation.

Comments

that is great, I am so envious. Until recently I still considered myself too close to still being "the teenage babysitter" to actually trust one in my house. Now I simply don't have the money! Hope you had a great night out. Oh and what did you go and see?

What movie did you see? How was it? How did it go overall?

I hope you had a great time, Kim! I babysat for some college friends who now have kids a couple of months ago and I guess I was the first non-family babysitter for their kids too. They were so thrilled--I had a three year and eighteen month year old jumping around me saying, "The baby sister is here! The baby sister is here!" It was adorable.

Hope you had a splendid time!

Have you decided on your BlogHer plans yet?

It will be very hard for me to take that step, since my teen years were...uh, slightly different, and I have trouble with the thought of trusting teenagers.

I found you on the Blogger's Choice list. I couldn't agree more with the freedom of teen sitters. Although I find sitters who can drive an even better deal. My husband refuses to drive them home, understandably with all the concerns about men and girls, but I just hate that extra layer.

Plus, what if the movie/dinner stunk? You have to add the babysitting $$$ in addition to the tickets/bill.

But I hope you had fun. And the Ladies did too.