I believe that growing up comes with many responsibilities. I have realized that I need to be more independent. I am responsible for many things in my life like getting school work done, knowing when assessments are, and showing up to colorguard practice on time. There are also times when I have to look after children or pets for people.

I babysit for my neighbors across the street when they need a babysitter. Before this year, they liked to go out to dinner often and they needed someone to watch their kids. They trust me with their kids. This makes me feel good inside. I get the sensation of being an adult with young children, which makes me feel responsible. On this particular night, my friend Georgia and I had to babysit four kids under the age of six. My neighbors had one daughter at the time, and wanted to go out with their friends who didn’t have a babysitter. A couple days before the night I had to babysit my neighbor approached me asking

“Would you be okay watching a few extra kids on Saturday night? Our friends don’t have a babysitter. You can bring a friend.”

I responded hesitantly with “yes that’s fine.”

I texted Georgia immediately to see if she would be willing to help. I remember feeling nervous when saying yes because I had never met their friend’s kids and I didn’t know how they would behave or act around older girls they had never met. After I responded, I thought to myself what am I getting myself into?

I felt a little bit of relief when Georgia responded with “yeah I can help”.

The night came. It was a beautiful summer evening. Georgia and I walked over there together. We walked in to the sounds of adults having conversations in the kitchen and four little girls happily playing together. There were toys everywhere. Many thoughts were going through my head. This is going to be a crazy night. What if something breaks. What if they don’t listen to us. My neighbor greeted us and introduced us to their friends and their daughters. I am shy around people I don't know. Meeting them for the first time and having to watch kids I didn't know anything about was scary for me. I didn’t want to sound nervous or mess up anything I said.  One of the girls I hadn’t met before wasn’t as shy as the other two. She was excited for Georgia and I to play with her. Both sets of parents gave us instructions for their kids about eating, pajamas, and bedtime. I remember standing in the kitchen listening to the instructions carefully. It was a little overwhelming at first and I was really hoping the girls would cooperate when it was time to put pajamas on and that they would calm down later in the evening.

I knew where things in the house were located because I had watched my neighbor’s little girl and the older girl that is only there on certain days a few times before. Knowing where certain food and kitchen utensils were helped me to be more efficient when the girls wanted snacks and when I was cleaning up the kitchen.
Georgia and I learned right away that we had to work together and share the responsibilities of watching the girls. At one point she was outside with the girls that wanted to be on the trampoline and I was inside watching the youngest one, trying to get her to be more comfortable with me. She was only one year old. When I was able to get the her to go outside, we took them for a walk in the neighborhood because it was a nice night. The youngest two girls were in strollers and the older two had to walk with us. We were a little more than halfway around the block when the girls that were walking got tired. It was difficult to carry them and push a stroller. Eventually we put them both of them in a stroller and had the youngest girl on the oldest girl’s lap. The girl that is my neighbor wanted to push the stroller, so I let her help. The walk was a lot of work but it was worth the challenge because it was a nice time to be outside.

When we were inside after it got darker outside, all four of the girls wanted to play with the same toys, which was a problem at times. This was difficult because my neighbor only has so many toys and when one was playing with something, the others thought it was something they wanted to play with too. They would try to take the toys from each other and get upset if they couldn’t play with something. They were little and didn’t quite understand the concept of sharing.

Georgia and I just did our best and said “she is playing with that right now, you can have a turn in a little bit.”

  Looking back on this night, I realize that it was not an easy job. I realized that I can handle tasks that may seem overwhelming at first and throughout the task but in the end I can make it through. The girls were ages 5, 3, 2, and 1. The only one I knew prior to that night was the 2 year old. I knew how she behaved from babysitting her before. It was interesting to see her interact with other kids around her age. This was a good experience for me because I realized that being a parent of multiple young children may be a little difficult at times.

I am a responsible person and babysitting is only one example to show it. I can handle tasks that may be difficult for a 13 and 14 year old girl. Babysitting helps me to be more responsible because it teaches me skills that will help me when I have my own kids later in my life. Becoming responsible has been a skill that started from when I was younger. I have always been willing to work. Sometimes, I like to be in charge of things. It just depends on what it is. Babysitting is one of those things where I am okay with being in charge because it teaches me responsibility, which is an important skill to have.