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Question for parents
I am not a parent but I have observed lots of parents within my extended family and with my friends and I have observed somethings that raise my eyebrow to recently.
When I was in my early to late teens I babysat a lot. For neighbours, my parents friends, friends of friends, etc. What I'm observing from some parents around me is a very different mentality so I'm wondering if this is something that is generational or just a personal thing. as several of my friends and family members don't have any babysitters
other than family and will not go to an event if a family member is not
available.
So who, if anyone, takes care of your kids when you go on a date night or night out, or to a wedding, etc?
This isn't for me to be judgmental, I am just really curious.
[Poll]
Re: Question for parents
I've only left my son with family, and only select family members at that (read: my family).
I babysit a lot as a teen too, but I only babysat for family members and close family friends, to the best of my recollection.
I have no problem leaving my son with teenagers- I babysat from the time I was 12 with no problems, and I fully intend to let my very responsible 12 year old sister babysit when she wants to- but I don't know any teens (other than my sister and her friends) and I'm not going to leave my kid with a teen who posts a sign on a telephone pole, either. It'd be different if I was part of some kind of community and knew teens through that (church or whatnot), but I'm not, so yeah, it's just family.
Ditto this.
So far, aside from daycare, I've left DS with someone other than DH exactly three times: once with my mom, who lives out of town, for a true date night (dinner and a movie) and twice with DH's parents for less than an hour while I went shopping.
Happy Easter
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Not a parent... but.... my sister for years only relied on family to babysit her kid(s). About a year ago she found a "teenage babysitter", but I'm 95% sure that since this teen will be heading off to University in the fall, she will find herself looking to lean on family again. And by family, I mean me, since I'm the only one who lives within a couple hours of them.
I think you're right in recognizing a growing trend for sure. I think a lot of people are hesitant to leave their kids with someone they don't know, especially teenage babysitters. But I also think that there are so many more job options these day for teenagers, that not many of them want to babysit; it seems to be a trend that goes both ways.
We use mainly family and a few close friends to babysit our LOs, but that's mainy because we are blessed to have a lot of close family and friends that are more than willing to babysit for us. I am thankful for them, but there are certain times when I would gladly hire a "typical" babyistter; for instance if/when DH and I have a weekly obligation, hiring someone else may be easier than draining our family/friend resources.
That said, I would definitely be more comfortable with a teenager that I knew; perhaps a friends/co workers child, a teen from church, a cousin/niece/nephew, etc. I'm sure I will look into these resources when the kids are a bit older.