Worst One-Night Job
I grew up in very rural Northwest Missouri. The town population was about 600. So everyone knows everyone and when I was 14, I was a very popular babysitter. I became something of the “town babysitter” and parents used to fight to get me to watch their kids. One night, this one mom needed me to watch her daughter, so she and her mom could go to a wedding. I had watched the little girl once before, so it wasn’t a big deal. It was a quiet night and the little girl and I were playing and enjoying ourselves. A few hours go by and soon there is a knock at the door. I answer it and it’s another parent saying, “Hi, I heard there was child care? Here.. (hands me the kid) have fun honey” and walks off. Soon more and more parents start dropping their kids off. Keep in mind I’m only 14, so I was too scared and inexperienced to say anything to these “adults.” I eventually end up with 15 kids and the oldest was seven.
I was running around like crazy trying to keep each kid from crying, changing diapers, giving bottles, begging the seven year-old to help me with his little sister — it was pure pandamonium. The seven year-old was of course one of those kids who didn’t listen and was running around jumping off of things, knocking things over and kicking other random things. Finally after a few hours the parents return and most of them had too much to drink. None of them offer or bother to pay me for watching their kids. Finally, the original Mom gets back, hands me $10 and tells me to have a good night. I was so dumbfounded. How could they think it was okay to only pay me $10 for watching 15 kids? I went home and told my mom who was beyond mad. Luckily they never asked me to babysit for them again.
Hicks… what can you do? You know they were all at the same “wedding” drunk off their asses.
That’s horrible. Even at 14, I would’ve given them a piece of my mind, but I’m unusual. What snots. I hope your mother called them and said something.
God, what assholes. Proving people love to walk all over someone if they see others doing it. I hope you TP’d their houses and lit bags of dog poop on fire, that’s what I would have done. But at 14 my boyfriends were all kinda bad, and I didn’t actually have to do anything but stand back and watch. Oh, boys….
fabulous. I would stop doing it or perhaps have a biz cards with your rate if people ask. other thing is, don’t answer the door @ someone’s house (i.e. not yours) if you are not expecting anyway….this could have solved the problem. or could call the police…
I can’t believe a bunch of parents would just leave their kids like that – especially the ones who showed up when you already had 10+ kids running around. I hope your mom demanded some fair payment for you. At 14, you can’t be expected to negotiate that kind of stuff yourself.
What idiots.
um, no. i would have gone back the next day when they sobered up and either given them a piece of my mind themselves or had my mother do it. honestly, probably had my mother do it, at 14.
(given that they were probably pretty hungover at that point, i also would have banged pots and pans, woken up the babies, and poured tequila outside their bedroom windows. but i’m kind of a bitch.)
That’s one of the reasons I always charged per kid per hour back when I babysat. I babysat for two families who were friends and would go out together and I’d end up with four kids instead of two. Or for days when schools for snow I would end up with those four plus my little brother; it was good money but hellish days stuck inside with five kids from 6 to 10 years old.
Heck, if they were that drunk, would they even remember paying you? You could lie and at least get another ten.
I’m with lalli, if I were your parents I would certainly have demanded you receive appropriate compensation AND an apology for taking advantage of your respect for your elders.
Never mind sending my mother over, I would have send dad. When he was younger my dad, was into bodybuilding. He was by no means ripped, or built like Schwarzenegger, but he was an imposing figure.