How to be the best babysitter ever

I was minding a friends 4 year old the other day and she informed me that I am a really good babysitter and if you've ever met a 4 year old you would know they aren't really inclined to say things like that to be nice. Small children are often honest to a fault and hours spent minding my nieces has taught me this so I will be taking that compliment and patting myself on the back. If you don't believe me on the honesty front she also told me my new apartment was really nice and not at all smelly like my old one (because of the damp). I did ask for a badge so I could wear it to show people that I am in fact a really good babysitter but she didn't have any pins so you will just have to take my word for it.

 If you are feeling envious of my babysitting finesse then I will kindly share some of my tips with you but only because I'm lovely like that.

 1. Be sure to play lots of games. Good baby sitters always play games. Be it hide in the seek in the park or tag. And it's great fun when you're in a terrible hiding place (clearly visible behind a tree) and the child takes pity on you and pretends she can't see you and spends 5 minutes checking loads of other places first. Those are good outdoor games but mother may I and what time is it mr wolf work quite well inside. It is possible that after the 15th time of being the wolf you might regret ever showing your nieces this game but in these cases it's best to either man up and hope that they get bored soon.

 2. It's always good to have markers and paper. I used to go out of my way to find art projects to do with the kids and they can be fun but messy and time consuming or sometimes just too difficult and it's not quite the same if you end up doing all the work. But markers and some paper can be a life saver. I am not at all artistic and I would think the best word to describe my attempts at drawing would be crude because I seem to be missing some connection between the vivid images I see in my head and what my pencil actually draws. Fortunately I am still at a level which is slightly better than the tiny people I am minding so I can forget for  a while about my limitations while they oooh and aah over my totes amazing drawings and ask me to draw something that resembles a witch or a pumpkin.

 3. Be excellent at dodging awkward questions . Kids will literally say what ever comes into their heads, seeing as  I am still working on my tendency to blurt, I try not to take offence. When you are a parent you decide what you want to tell your kids about religion, death, babies and a whole host of other issues but when you are babysitting other people's kids they often ask you questions you're really not equipped to answer like is god a baby and why aren't you married and the key I find, unless you want to find yourself having very adult conversations with a small person ( and possible never be asked to mind them again ) is to be vague, very very vague and then promptly change the conversation.

 4. Bring a movie. Trust me you will thank me later. And make it a good one. Nothing too scary for the younger kids or they'll be begging you to turn it off and good enough that it will hold their interest or else you're just wasting time. Depending on how long I'm babysitting for I will usually hold out on the movie until a bit later in the day because you often reach a point where you feel the need to just sit down and then it's a life saver. I agree to watch the movie with them and use it as an opportunity to read my book with only minor interruptions. Bliss and that's how I ended up watching the same movie two days in a row.

 So there you go. Now don't forget to hand them back. Funnily enough I don't have any problems there 

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