What You Should Know Before The Kids’ Parents Leave

If you’re looking for a little extra money and you like kids, one of the best jobs for teens is babysitting. The summer is a particularly good time to find babysitting jobs, as kids are home from school and parents are busy with work and other functions.

While babysitting is a good way to make money, it’s also an important job that comes with many responsibilities. When looking after kids, you will have to expect the unexpected. For that reason, and in order to be a safe sitter, there are a number of things you should know before the parents leave the house.

•How To Get In Contact With The Parents
Most people will have a cell phone, so you should have at least one cell phone number. However, cell phones aren’t infallible; they can lose reception, drop calls, run out of batteries, or get misplaced. For this reason, you should also know the name of the place or places the parents will be as well as the numbers there, in case they can’t be reached on their cell phones and need to be paged.

•Emergency Numbers
In the event of an emergency, like a fire, an accident, or a serious injury, you should call 911. You should also know how to get in touch with Poison Control as well.

•Any Medical Conditions
If kids are allergic to peanut butter, bee stings, or something else, or if they have medicine they need to take at certain times, you will need to know all of this before the parents leave the house in order to be prepared. Make sure you know food or other allergies, medications, dosage information, and who to contact in case something happens.

•Where the First Aid Kit Is
Make sure you know where the parents keep the first aid kit, or if they don’t have one, where to find band-aids, antiseptics, Neosporin, or other things you may need if the kids get hurt or scraped.

•Instructions for Food/Snacks/Mealtimes
Make sure you know what the kids are allowed to have and when they should be eating. Keep a close eye on them while they eat, so they don’t choke. In addition, if you are caring for a baby, make sure you know how to prepare a bottle or mix cereal; it’s second nature for so many parents, they sometimes forget a teen might not necessarily know how to do this.

•Family Rules
Make sure you know the family rules for bedtimes, TV and computer use, talking on the phone, and so forth. If the parents don’t want the kids to watch certain channels or to play on the computer, make sure you enforce this.

•Bedtimes
There are as many different bedtimes as there are parents, so make sure you know when they want the kids in bed. Also, it’s a good idea to know bedtime routines, such as whether or not they want you to give the kids a bath or if the kids will need help brushing their teeth.

There’s no need to stress or worry about babysitting – just make sure you know the things listed above, and you will have a great time taking care of the kids while earning some money in the process.