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Bad Babysitter
The first time didn’t work out too well as all the kids got sick because I let them eat a ton of junk food
By Isha Mitra
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Isha Mitra learns the value of trying something new and how failure is something everyone experiences.
So many third-rate horror movies are filled with pretty and innocent looking teenage babysitters who completely fool the unsuspecting parents and later morph into alien serial killers and terrorize the children all night.
But I have long since learned that parents don’t fear psychotic babysitters from slasher flicks. Rather, it’s the incapable and inefficient ones who are the real monsters. And I know now that I represent the hundreds of dubious, irresponsible teenage girls who parents don’t trust but must inevitably leave their kids with me. I am a parent’s worst nightmare.
To my credit, I never advertised myself as a babysitter. In fact, parents would come to me. For example, a husband and wife with 3 children begged me to be the permanent babysitter. I, not thinking, immediately said yes.
The first time didn’t work out too well as all the kids got sick because I let them eat a ton of junk food. I was given another chance, but then I spilled candle wax and completely ruined their beautiful, leather coffee table. Strike 2.
It must have been an emergency because the kids’ mother called me one more time asking if I could come over and look after their children for just an hour while she ran some errands. Determined not to screw up, I kept all the kids in the basement and together, we watched T.V. But alas, things went awry. I went upstairs to check on the oldest boy. When I heard a flush from the bathroom, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to scare him. So I waited outside the door and when it opened: BOO!!
Unfortunately for me, the mom had decided to come home early and it was actually her who was coming out of the bathroom. After she recovered from a near heart attack, she sent me home with no money and a promise to never hire me again.
So I lost my one and only client, but as my mom said, there were plenty of other foolish parents out there, one of them being my mom’s colleague. He asked me to babysit his son for just one night because his son needed some coaching to get into the private school I attend. I told him to make a few jokes and just be comfortable. But he took my words too much to heart and told a slightly racist joke in his interview. Needless to say, the son was rejected and I once again lost a client.
After all my babysitting mishaps, even I had to admit that I wasn’t cut out for the job. I had already caused enough damage. But no matter. I’ve learned that even if looking after snot-nosed brats isn’t my thing, there’s something else out there for me. And I’ll never find out just what I’m good at if I don’t try other things and fail at them. So I don’t regret my short-lived babysitting business. I now have a clean slate and a new job. So, does anyone out there need a dog-walker?
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