How Babysitting Trains You For Business
Ignore the temperature. Don’t look at the calendar. Summer vacation is OVER. I’m still unclear why schools start before Labor Day, but that doesn’t change the fact that on Monday morning the short people in our family will be dragging the tall ones (and the dog) to the bus stop at 6:50 A.M.
Around our house, the school year starting means saying goodbye to the college summer sitter, this year our friend Bonnie. Like the six friends/sitters that have come before her, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed having Bonnie in the family. Yesterday we said our goodbyes and Bonnie mentioned how some of her friends implied what a piece of cake her summer must have been “playing” with a 7- and 9-year old.
Really? Do people actually think being a nanny is easy work? Hmmm. Initially, I was mystified. Then it occurred to me that unless you’ve spent your high school and/or college weekends working for families, you might not really be aware of the great, challenging, demanding, life-preparing work your average babysitter experiences.
In fact, if you regularly care for children who are not your own, you’re learning some critical “business” skills that others might miss. For instance babysitters…
Learn how to negotiate
There’s a fine line between keeping parents informed and giving them too many details. “We had a great day at the park” versus “There was a snake in the creek really close to little Johnny!” Great sitters know that all’s well that ends well, so skip some of the gory details! Don’t tell me this isn’t the approach in corporate America every day.
Live by a code of flexibility
There are “house rules” and “new management” rules. Sitters know when to invoke the “your mom wouldn’t approve” or the “I don’t mind” clauses based on any given situation. (i.e., “You aren’t supposed to have dessert at lunch, but I don’t mind since you’ve been so helpful today!”) This flexibility looks remarkably similar to invoking “corporate guidelines” versus “management discretion.”
Be responsible for leading
Unless a babysitter likes to spend the summer watching kids play Temple Run, a sitter knows the productivity of the day is entirely up to them. The implication of this fact means that the sitter has to actually decide to DO something worthwhile. There is not an “approval process” per se; the day’s productivity is based on the amount of effort a sitter pours into the process. If you want to make an impact when you're in an office environment, you have to DO the work even when the only people paying attention seem to be engrossed in silly games.
Communicate results
Sitters know that the parents want the scoop, good or bad, on what their kids are doing. Telling the stories where there are "wins" with the kids is easy, but the real opportunities for breakthroughs are when there's a dialog about the challenges. A babysitter who can navigate the dangerous waters of telling a parent that their kid is uncooperative or needs some discipline is more than prepared to deal with delivering a "performance evaluation."
So the next time someone tells you they "played" with the kids during their summer "off," be sure to encourage them to put it on their resume!
Did you babysit? What lessons stuck with you?