Nanny Diaries

Back in the day (I was 13, I believe), I thought I was so cool because I was able to watch kids and make money.  Kids like me, for some reason I don't understand.  I've never wanted to have kids of my own, and most of the time, I am highly annoyed by crying and whining.  When I was younger though, I found it fabulous that my weekends were spent babysitting.

And then it all changed.  The town I lived in was having a severe economic crisis to the point where bussing had actually been taken out of the picture.  No longer were we riding buses to school.  Families were moving away from town just so the kids would have a ride to school.  This didn't apply to me, because my mom didn't work and was able to drive us.  The rest of the town, however, was in a sticky situation.  Parents were having to take on weekend jobs, but didn't have the money to pay for babysitters.  That is when with a friend and her mother, the Baby-Sitters Club was formed.  (This isn't a joke, so don't laugh.)

The 4-H Committee of our county granted us the opportunity to present them with our idea.  We had to create poster boards and outlines and speeches to portray how we would help the community by being babysitters and nannies- for free.  All we asked is that they help us go to camp every summer we completed more than so many hours of service.  4-H Camp was the coolest thing back then, because we got to go to a college campus four hours away (Michigan State University) and hang out with new people and flirt with all the guys on campus.  Forget that we were 13 and most guys were not interested in girls then.  So, we formed our plan, and it was approved.  We were given enough funds to create several Fun Totes (filled with dolls, blocks, paper, crayons, markers, etc.), and told that at the end of the school year, if we had accumulated so many hours, they would help send us to camp.  And it began.

Every weekend, we met up at the 4-H offices and used their phone to call parents in desperate need of help.  Sometimes we had to even work after school, walking in several feet of snow in below 0 weather to get to the houses (that is not an exaggeration like your parents might tell, this is TRUE).  We watched angels and devils alike.  I remember one kid in particular that was obsessed with Tele Tubbies.  He was crazy, I swear.  His parents claimed he was potty-trained and that he only wore Pull-Ups to bed.  Lies.  We watched him for 6 hours during on a snow day, and that kid did not use the bathroom once.  Instead, he chose to go in his pants, and then hide them somewhere.  I found several pairs of filled underwear in pants that day. 

Another little girl cried if you tried to talk to her.  Her parents said she was a little shy, but it seemed like every time my friend or I tried to ask her a question she'd bust out in tears and cry for mommy and daddy.  We were at a loss for words, and ended up calling the parents several times during a three hour night.  They were having dinner at a friend's house, and I know they were upset.  However, there was nothing we could do.  The poor girl could not stop crying.  It was to the point where she was actually choking.  Mind you, my friend and I are only 13 years old and only have so much experience with kids.  My youngest brother was only three at the time, so I had some experience, but I had no idea what to do in that crisis.

Unlike in the movie The Nanny Diaries, most of the parents were glad just to have someone to watch the kids.  They didn't care what we did, as long as their kids were alive when they got home.  I will admit that during naptimes, I was bound to be on the phone with my friends.  What else was I supposed to do?  This was back in the times when hardly anyone had cable and satellite was a real luxury for most.  I could only watch Toy Story and Pocahontas so many times because I was pulling my hair out.  This was also when Barney was still around, for the most part, so I learned a lot from him (when you hug blue and red it makes purple...go figure). 

I haven't babysat much since those days.  We finished out our first year of duty, went to our first summer at camp, and it was terrible.  It was the year of tornadoes in Michigan, and go figure, three dropped down right in the middle of campus while we were there.  We were forced to spend hours outside in the sun, which isn't all that pleasant in Michigan, believe me.  One girl actually died from heat stroke, which scared us all.  The last three days were spent in different buildings around campus.  To say the least, babysitting was the most fun of the two experiences.

Because of my current situation, though, I've decided to try to take it up again.  I've posted a couple of ads for nanny/housekeeping jobs, and I got my first reply this morning in an email.  I feel terrible that I don't have a phone for people to call, but I don't have a choice right now.  So, a lady emailed me and asked me to call her for details, so I'm forced to gather change to run down the street to use a payphone.  How fun!  She is actually on maternity leave right now, and isn't due until February.  She needs help around the house, though, and with running errands, so it'll actually be a good thing.  At least I'll have time to adjust to her before I actually have to help with a baby.  Some people are weird about strangers handling their newborns and infants.  I'm a little nervous, but, I figure if I could do it when I was 13, I can do it now. 

Let's all cross our fingers that she's not as nuts as the mom in The Nanny Diaries, though.

**EDIT**

I just received an email from the lady I had the interview with, and she lives in Surprise, which is way too far for me to travel.  Plus the bus doesn't go out there.  So, back to square one.  See what I get for having my hopes up?  Sigh.