Lessons of babysitting

8 | OPINIONS

Lessons from babysitting: back to the basics

Abby Nevin ’23 Broadcast Editor

*Children’s names have been changed for anonymity.

Not to toot my own horn, but I’d say I’m a pretty good babysitter. I tell the best bedtime stories, bandage boo-boos to the T and make some awesome boxed mac and cheese.

But the kids are not the only ones who bene t from my babysitting; I bene t, too.

Take the interaction that I had with 5-year-old Ben and his sister, Anna. Ben shouts in a t of rage, upset that his sister has just won an intense game of “Chutes and Ladders.”

“Are you overwhelmed, Ben?” his rstgrade, big sister asks.

“Yeah,” he whines. “I just tried really hard and I’m sad I didn’t win.”

“I think it’s smart to take some deep breaths,” Anna said.

She then comforts him, as she models taking deep breaths and he follows her example.

I sat back in awe. Not only was I shocked by the emotional maturity of these intelligent kids, but I thought to myself, “When was the last time, I, a 17-year-old, reminded myself to breathe in a time of frustration?”

Through this small act of empathy, Ben and his sister demonstrated a skill that I let lapse in my life: a reminder to calm the heck down. A er that night, I have now made sure to incorporate steady breathing in times of stress, like when I take a test or get frustrated.

Babysitting has also taught me to hone my compassion skills. Caring for children has allowed me not only to be understanding but particularly patient when a child is faced with an obstacle. Take 3-year-old Eliza, for example. Eliza got so upset over her brother’s highway robbery of her favorite Barbie doll that she ran from me, slamming her bedroom door while screaming and hiding underneath her bed. “Get away from me!” she yells as I peek my head through the cracked open door. At this moment in time, I wanted to throw in the towel. It was the rst day I had babysat these kids. Although I was confused and concerned about what to do next in this situation, I reminded myself to relax and consider how she felt. What triggered this behavior? How could that have made her feel? What should I do to help her calm down? In that mo-

The key to getting Eliza to open the door (and the key to dealing with my own stresses) is patience.

ment, I discovered I could empathize with her. As a high school student struggling with the pressures of college applications, homework, extracurriculars and other normal drama, I can get easily frustrated and be especially hard on myself. e key to getting Eliza to open the door (and the key to dealing with my own stress) is patience. I have applied this thinking to my own home and social relationships. I know that when making an important decision for my life, I must rst nd the patience to calm down and evaluate my own thoughts and feelings. In times when I feel stressed, I nd that now more than ever before, I revert back to the skills I have developed through babysitting. I have been making an e ort to speak to myself more kindly, and to be more lenient with myself in times of pressure. ese skills that I now apply to myself are those I largely credit to the job of babysitting, small individual experiences that gi ed me the lessons I am grateful for every day.