Now, if you were to ask me if I ever wanted babies, I would probably tell you "Hell, no. You crazy." But there are three reasons on this Earth that always make me reconsider, and their names are Evan, Peter, and Audrey. I have been the lucky sitter for these little people for several years now (although it's been about a year since the last time we saw each other), and had the pleasure of watching them for almost 12 hours yesterday after a night of snow!
Like everyone here at Oops, I am slogging through difficulty. Fiscally drained, emotionally wrought...Oops, it's HARD TIMES! I have a lot of misdirected love in me right now, so I've decided to start giving it to little people. As it turns out, the little people feel it in a big way!
Anyhoot, for this blog, I've concocted a list of reasons as to why you should consider babysitting in troubled times.
1. Kids make you feel better. Before I arrived at the kids house, I was feeling pretty low. But when a child that hasn't seen you in over a year immediately gets excited about coloring with you when you walk in the door, remembers all the jokes you used to tell them (and still thinks they are funny), and all the pictures you used to draw for them, how can you NOT automatically feel rejuvenated? It's like DRUGS! DRUGS!
2. Kids give you an excuse to do fun and awesome shit. I hadn't gotten to use my showshoes yet this year. But these kids cross-country ski, so I piled them and their gear into my tiny ass car and took them to Huron Hills Golf Course (we were in Ann Arbor).
This is a GREAT, CHEAP thing to do after a good snow. I mean, the gear isn't cheap, but if you have it anyways, access to the grounds is free. So I ran in my snowshoes while the wee ones went a-skiing. A snowman was made with the youngest when she got tired (we couldn't get its mouth to stay on, which was a tragedy because he was supposed to have a droopy mustache). 
Later, we'd take the two dogs on an hour long walk through Eberwhite woods and around the neighborhood. Snow ball fights abound.
3. Kids give you an excuse to act like a kid yourself. After snowshoeing, I dragged these kids into a supermarket to buy supplies for Puppy Chow. This would be an activity for after dinner. To kill time until dinner was done cooking, we watched Olympics and played a rushed game of Life, in which no one could afford to buy a house until near the end of the game, and in which I decided to throw my husband and the two twins I supposedly had out of the car about halfway around the board.
After dinner, we made Puppy Chow and watched Happy Feet. I turned them into Puppy Chow addicts (yes! enabler!), and watched each of them fall asleep one at a time starting at 8:45. You know you did a good job when they drop like that.4. You make bank. Parents need child care. They need GOOD child care. If you are an awesome and reliable babysitter, your wallet will definitely feel it. Although I would babysit these particular kids for free, it's really a great source of extra income when the bank account is running low. Hurray, money! Now I can pay for Wednesday night Brew and View!
5. Networking. When you are a good babysitter, the parents sometimes will look out for you. And when the parents are heavily connected to an industry in which you have an interest, this is GREAT. The parents of these kids have always been particularly helpful when I've been looking for work, and continue to be. Never overlook a good relationship when job-hunting.
Cheers!
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