Last September I started watching a baby girl named Lydia. At that time she was about 3 month old. I watched her on Monday and Tuesdays from 8:30am-4:30pm. She was a challenging baby with naps but other than that, she was so good and I enjoyed my time with her. My kids, Ashley especially, loved her to death. There were many days that Lydia would get put in my van multiple times a day to pick up kids from school. Besides to the kids school or to my office on occasion, I didn't really venture out anywhere else with her.
Over the winter they let me know that they were expecting another baby in August and asked if I'd be interested in watching both Lydia and the new baby. I declined. There were a few reasons that led to that decision but one of them was that I knew it would be alot harder to take a 1 year old and new baby to any of the kids school events. Even picking them up from school would be alot harder. For the money reason, parts of me still wishes I hadn't said no but, I know it was the right choice.
The Mom had the new baby boy in August but I still watched Lydia on my days for a few weeks still into September since she was recovering from a c-section and to help her adjust to the new baby.
Overall it was a great experience and I was so glad to work with such a great family.
Here are just a few pictures from our year with Lydia.
She had a big 'Jeep' at home and assumed that Ashley's Barbie Jeep was the same as her. We all had a good laugh when we tried to climb into it.
Did you like babysitting, or would you prefer to do something else to make money? The thing I like about it is that it is so easy when you do it in your own home.
ReplyDeleteKay - I really did not mind the actual babysitting. And the money was good at $35 a day. But, I do still have my church secretary job so, having Lydia Mon & Tues and the church work Wed & Thurs (and sometimes Friday), it was like working a full-time job and I got nothing done at home! It was nice to be making money while I was home but, I seriously got nothing done...seriously. My Monday with Lydia was like this: Drop off the kids at school, pickup Lydia (she lives in the same town as the kids school), go home and either try to nap her or keep her busy until 11:00 when I'd go pick up Ashley from preschool. Then home for lunch, then attempt to give her another nap (she was a terrible napper), find things for Ashley to do to keep her quiet while Lydia napped, at 2:30 leave to go get Bennett, come home, snacks, start homework, Lydia left at 4:30 and then to try to figure out supper etc. My whole day was always shot and I rarely got housework done during the day between the running and the baby.
ReplyDeleteThat is so true, Rachel. When I have kids here, I find I can manage to throw loads of laundry in the washer or dryer, and also keep the dishes washed, but I can't seem to fold laundry, vacuum, dust, clean bathrooms, or do anything else extra. It's like I can just barely keep on top of the tasks for that day, but I can't get ahead either.
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