Babies In General
The truth be told, I don't know a lot about babies in general because I've never had one. I have been an aunt since I was 13 years old, however, so I know about baby sitting. My niece was my first charge. I was left with her for a few hours while my brother and his wife went out. She left me a bottle of something clear so when the baby wet, I put it on her.
I should have known with my sister-in-law that I was being set up for a prank! When they returned and the baby wet again she insisted on changing the diaper then said with laughter and high drama in her voice as she displayed the diaper for all to see, “What is this?”
There were bubbles in the diaper, so they all laughed that I had put shampoo on her bottom. I'd not read the bottle but assumed that it would have been baby oil. Why leave me shampoo? First of all they hadn't trusted to leave me with her at all in the first place, but our Mom was at home. It was Mother's prompting that had afforded me this experience. To this day, I haven't lived down the shampoo incident.
We went on to share some lovely times together with me as sitter auntie. I'd enjoyed my duties so much so that I later became a mothers helper and took on a paying situation doing it for more than a year. Erika would be the same age as my niece and is now full grown. I frequently wonder how she turned out. I've seen my other charges as I've kept in touch with their parents.
Being an aunt is not easy, I have nephews. So just to keep them inline, I kept their wrinkly baby pictures posted on my fridge.When girlfriends visited I would bring out the wrinkly E-T esque baby shots. The young ladies actually think they are cute, adorable even! It all went by so fast and my nephews are starting to marry. Now I've got to prepare for the next generation, poised and camera ready.
No one has to look far for most baby needs. I try to cover everything right here. I see that finding babysitters and mothers helpers has gotten a bit more sophisticated than when I used to do it. One simply went to the school guidance counselor's office to put your name on a list of potential available baby sitters. The inquiring families call the school and see who was recommended, then they would get to interview you and determine if you were a fit.
Now,as you will note on this page - there are agencies doing the screening. So, high school students wanting to babysit or work as a Mothers Helper on weekends or during he summer have to apply to the agency or maybe the school supplies the agency a list of competent students – I don't know. Plus, the agencies are now International. Can you imagine being an International baby sitter? It's a great way to begin to see the world on ones own terms. Princess Diana did it – visiting the USA one summer as a Mother's Helper prior to marrying Prince Charles. The rest is history or is it HERstory?
