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Being a babysitter is a responsible job. It's not the sort of thing that you should enter into because all your friends are doing it or you just want the money. The money is great but you will gain a lot more satisfaction from the job if you take a little while to examine why you want to do it in the first place.

Maybe you love children? That's a good start! Maybe you're thinking of working with children in the future as a Nursery Nurse or assistant, or even as a teacher. Working as a babysitter is great as a 'dry run' for these jobs. Children can be endearing, cute, adorable and loveable. They can also be difficult, demanding, downright dislikable at times and totally exhausting.

If you discover that babysitting isn't really for you, be honest with yourself and with the parents. Trying to continue a job like this when your heart isn't in it can lead to a drop in standards and everyone will end up miserable.

I love it!

If you do enjoy it ' make the most of the experience. Building a relationship with children and parents can be extremely rewarding and satisfying. If children are going to play a large part in your life, either as an employee or as a Mother (or Father) yourself ' use it as a learning opportunity.

Watch the children as they play and observe how they reason things out through role playing or the use of dolls and toys. You might be amazed to find that even small children are highly observant of what is going on around them ' especially things that they're not supposed to know about or notice!

If you're lucky enough to work regularly with one family, watch how the children are growing and changing. Their speech will alter and their physical abilities will change and become more defined.

Taking all of this in may sound like a lot of work but if you just absorb it while you play and interact with them, you will be learning a lot about children just by spending time with them.

How babysitting can affect you.

You will learn a lot about yourself. Many parents say that they didn't know that they had a temper until they had children! Children are masters at testing you to your limit and beyond, just to see how far they can go. However, they love boundaries as it makes them feel safe. Don't fall into the trap of over-indulging them just because it is cute to see them behave like tiny adults. They're not and they're looking to you for guidance and the safety of limitation.

It might feel strange at first to be 'in charge' of the children ' unless you have younger brothers and sisters. It's fairly important to be firm from day one. You can always relax a little later but if you start off too laid back, it's much harder to regain control.

Having the responsibility of babysitting and carrying it out successfully can be a great confidence booster. This can affect other areas of your life. You may find that you're not as shy as you once were or that it's easier to make decisions.

Getting the most from babysitting can make it a fulfilling and enjoyable job. There is a saying that in any situation, you get out what you put in ' and babysitting is a perfect example of that'so give it your best shot and enjoy!