Gender: Female
Location: Texas
Member Since: July 11, 2005
Answers: 126
Last Update: October 23, 2005
Visitors: 7461
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I'm eighteen years old and a high school graduate. I frequently help babysit my younger cousins (ages 2-12) for free or at a low price, and I am fairly used to the quirks, likes and dislikes, of behavior of my relatives.
A family friend has asked me to babysit their 7 (I think 7) year old son for about eight hours this Thursday (I write this on Sunday). I like the kid and he seems to hero-worship me, so I'm fairly certain I'm going to accept. However, he has a reputation for wild behavior, so I am going in guarded.
My problem is, while I've played with him and helped to babysit him before, I've never been the primary babysitter. While my mother will be home that day, I really want to be as self-sufficient as possible.
So, I was looking for some pointers for babysitting non-family. I'm thinking that I'll start him out on cartoons, since he'll be arriving at my house about seven, and break up the rest of the day with semi-healthy snacks every 2-3 hours, and blocks of toys, drawing, and video games. Movies if I get REALLY desperate.
If you could give me tips, crisis management techniques, and ideas for free or low-cost crafts and games, I would greatly appreciate it. Movie rental suggestions are also welcome, although my budget is very small, and my selection is limited to a single small store. (link)
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Being a babysitter myself, if he has issues, first of all tell him if he does whatever he does wrong again, he'll be punished. If he does this again, put him in his room and don't let him come out until he has promised you to be good. When he is really good though, reward him with a sweet snack that "snack hour" instead of a healthy one, and let him know why he got it. Other that that, you seem to have everything under control. Do let him do what he wants, but just suggest things he might like, don't MAKE him do anything.
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Rating: 5
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All very good points. I'm used to dealing with overweight charges so I've gotten used to trying to push fruits and putting ice cream in impossibly small containers to control portions... Thanks for the pointers.
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