01 Sep What a Babysitting Job Showed Me About Growing Up

Photo by Andres Molina on Unsplash

Commentary, Arianna Caramagno

My first real experience with work came during the summer of my senior year of high school. I was asked to babysit a family friend’s two young daughters for an afternoon. That day was full of firsts: my first time breaking up an argument, my first time getting paid, and my first time stepping into the world of work.

Agreeing to babysit was easy, but actually taking care of two young kids was something I wasn’t prepared for.

Aside from having a handful of prior experiences with caring for my younger sister, the only reference point I had for babysitting was the movies I’d seen where babysitting was depicted as something that usually involved complete chaos. I didn’t know what to expect, and being responsible for two kids I had only met a few times was honestly terrifying.

In preparation, I watched at least a dozen YouTube videos that had tips and tricks for managing children. But when the day eventually arrived, I found that babysitting was much more mundane than I expected. 

The girls were just regular kids. They wanted to play outside, watch cartoons, and missed their parents. My main responsibilities were to keep an eye on them and make sure they ate lunch. 

We spent most of our time together playing with the toys I had buried in my closet and jumping on the trampoline in my backyard. There were a few moments when they got into arguments that forced me to intervene, but by the time their parents came to pick them up, we had a great day. . 

For many people, jobs like babysitting or pet-sitting are more than a rite of passage. They offer a first glimpse into the adult working world. The freedom that came with working felt overwhelming at first, but in the end, my first job was truly rewarding.

Babysitting was unfamiliar territory. I had to take on the role of an adult, even though I was still used to being seen as a kid. Taking on that responsibility showed me that work could be freeing, not just intimidating. It gave me a glimpse of independence I hadn’t felt before.

Despite the nervousness and minor difficulties I encountered, getting my first “paycheck” was an empowering experience. Before that moment I hadn’t truly thought about all the benefits that earning my own money would entail. Although what I received that day was far from a six-figure salary, it was a huge boost of confidence for my then-17-year-old self.

Looking back now, I see how much that afternoon helped prepare me for the working world. Like many others my age, I lost out on a lot of those small job experiences because of the pandemic. It disrupted that slow and steady transition from high school student to working adult.

I often felt behind compared to older generations. But that one babysitting job became something I could look back on whenever I felt uncertain about my future. It reminded me that work isn’t always exciting or effortless, but it’s where you start to build independence.