Saying "NO"

Now that school started I have a really busy schedule from 8 in the morning to 8 or 9 at night and sometimes I just want a little time to myself. I basically go for morning and night classes and then from 3 to 5 in the afternoon I babysit. That leaves me about 3 or 4 hours from when I end class in the morning till I have to go babysit. I use that time to do homework or just to relax. People hear that I have that amount of free time and they need me to babysit. If its one of my usual clients then I usually say yes if its for a short amount of time. But when its a new person I tend to say "NO".

You can tell a lot about the person based on their reaction when you tell them "NO". Some will beg you and try to convince you to say "YES", I find these kind of people rude and try to avoid them as most as I could. Then there are others that say "OK" with a sigh, and they really want you to come and hope that you'll give in. I don't mind that type so much cause I understand they really need someone and their being considerate.

Then there are the others that say "NO Problem, Totally OK" That type I think are the nicest kind of people they are the most considerate and take the other person into account and realize that there are other people in the world besides for them. Those are the type who also tend to make babysitting a better experience. They will put a little nosh or food out on the table for you when you babysit so you can eat something and they put out a lot so you shouldn't feel embarrassed taking. They also tend to drive you home and pick you up if you live more than a block away.

Holding Babies: A "Natrual" Workout!

I've come to the realization that mother's arm muscles must be really strong from holding babies. Every time I babysit and I hold a baby after a while, I feel my arm weighing down and the baby starting to get heavy. Especially when babies sleep, it weighs them down and they become really heavy.

One time while feeding a baby his bottle my arm started hurting after a while, I then understood why they have pillows to use to rest your arm on while feeding a baby.

Then today I babysat a baby and she was good for a half hour, then started crying so I held her. Then she fell asleep on me. In the beginning it was alright, but then my arm couldn't take it anymore, so I sat down.

Its funny, how step by step the baby goes into a different position. First she's laying on my shoulder, then she moves her head down and it lays on my arm, when I sit her head lands on my lap. I sit on the steps so I can have my foot up so her head isn't hanging down. Then I leaned my back against the banister post so my back shouldn't kill. So by the end of the hour of her sleeping on me, I was able to be comfortable too.

Crayola Toothbrushes

One time when I was babysitting I saw the kids had really cool toothbrushes. They were Crayola toothbrushes that had little suction cups on the bottom so they can stick to the counter of the sink. So many times toothbrushes are laying flat down and then then fall and you have to wash them every time. Here with these tooth brushes they can stand straight up and they won't fall down. Plus the idea of Crayola is cute for little kids. So I commented to the mother when she came home that I thought the toothbrushes were cute. She then told me that she got it at rite aid. I went to check it out and it wasn't even expensive.

Traumatic Event

This Traumatic Event happened a while ago,, In June 07. It happened by Neighbors the Z's who have a family of 11 kids with 9 girls and 2 boys. The oldest is 16.

One day, I was getting ready to go to class so I walked down my block then I saw my neighbors so I started talking to them, then one kid points out that there is a dog coming and it was loose, so we all quickly try to run into the house, but what happened was, it followed us, and I feel really guilty about this part and it scares me to death but I got in with 3 kids and there were still 3 kids outside a 13 year old, a baby and a 2 year old, and the dog came up to the door, so I had no choice, I had to close the door, I closed it on the dogs face and the other 3 kids didn't get a chance to come inside, I felt so bad, I was crying and screaming and I almost had a heart attack.

Then the 13 year old was able to get the baby quickly out of the carriage, and the other kid and they went down the drive way to the side door and the dog followed them and came up to the 2 year old and started like licking the kid, so the mother heard screaming so asked what happened, so we told her and then she went opened the side door and they were able to come inside, and another kid came back around the front and I let her in. Then when I was sure the dog wasn't there anymore I left to class and I got there late. But I was so scared and trembling, and I felt so guilty about leaving the kids outside but I had no choice otherwise the dog would have went into the house.

It scares me to think about it, the reaction I had probably wasn't the best. Thank goodness the kids were alright at the end. But now every time I go to the Z's the kids would tease me and say there's a dog coming, they know I get scared by it so their good natured about the whole episode and don't blame me for it.

Triple Trouble!

Today I babysat for Mrs. Y's triplets. I've never had any major happenings while I was babysitting by anyone else. But by Mrs. Y's house it seems like there's always some sort of trouble.

First, last week when I was babysitting by Mrs. Y so she can go to a wedding, one of the triplets was jumping on the bed and then she started crying that she hurt her toe. I thought she pulled a muscle or something and that she would be better. She cried on and off and then fell asleep. I told the mother what happened and figured that was the end of that. But then the next day Mr. Y calls me and asked me to babysit again cause his daughter is in the hospital, she had broken her toe. I babysit there. Then Mrs. Y called me to thank me for babysitting last minute that she had no one else and I was a "lifesaver" I told her I was sorry about what happened to her daughter. She said no problem, she said the reason how she knew that something was wrong was because when she tapped her daughter on her foot, she cried out in her sleep "ow" so thats how she knew something was wrong. Thank goodness, she's alright now and she's walking, so it turned out alright.

Today, while babysitting for Mrs. Y's triplets, the same kid that broke her toe, opened the sliding door that goes out to the porch and caused the alarm to go on. The kids got all scared and went to hide in the bathroom. I called the mother and she didn't answer. Then I called the father and he told me the code and I was able to stop the alarm. Then The alarm security place called to make sure everything was alright. I told them it was a mistake. Then the mother comes home and then the police comes, she told the police that it was a mistake and the police car went away.

Nothing like that has ever happened before in any other houses, thankfully. It was an experience I hope doesn't happen again. Hopefully, the rest of my babysitting there will be smoother.

Babysitting Job or Office job??

Tomorrow I have to make a big decision. To keep my office job and stop my babysitting job or to keep my babysitting job and stop my office job, once school begins again and winter break is over.

There are pros and cons to each one. The office job is a job where I'm never bored and I always have something to do. The office job pays a few dollars more an hour. However, the babysitting job is easier cause there's no work to be done and I love the kids.

Mrs. Y needs me for babysitting and she has no one else. Mr. A who's my boss at the office can get a replacement.

I've always found it hard to say "no" to someone. But now I think I will turn down Mr. A and stop working in the office, and continue working with Mrs. Y babysitting her triplets.