A conversation at a baby shower yesterday got me thinking about babysitting circa 1972.
I did lots of babysitting as a teenager! The going rate was 50 cents a hour when I first started and probably a dollar and a half by the time "real" jobs replaced my babysitting career.
The parents who hired me had a great thing going! First of all, I took the "leave the home cleaner than you found it" dictum to heart. If parents left their place trashed, they'd return to a sparkling clean home! I was kind of a kid version of Mr. Clean to the rescue!
After I'd put the kids to bed, which is when most babysitters would turn on the TV and/or gab on the phone, I'd start to clean! For some reason, probably because it was other people's homes, I even enjoyed it! I would do dishes. I'd vacuum. I'd even scrub bathrooms!
During my teenage years it really did not occur to me what a great deal these families had going. In hiring my services they scored a 2 for 1 deal! Kids Alive? Check. Spotless Countertops? Check. Parents payed for child care and got maid service at no additional charge.
Years later when the tables were turned and I was hiring babysitters rather than being one, I found some great babysitters for my kiddos. But I don't recall any of them that were so fastidious about the condition of the home. And the going rate had gone up 10 fold. Oh, well!
