Gen Xers recall how young we were when we started babysitting. It's even blowing our own minds.

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Grouchy_Vet@reddit

First time I was left alone to babysit, I was 6 while my mother was at the neighbors.

When I just turned 8, I was allowed to carry my brand new baby sister up and down the steps when she woke up from a nap

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I was 7 y/o and babysat my 5 year old sister. My dad drove us to the US-Mex border and he left us kids alone while he played the horses on the Mexico side. My job was to stay in the car for 4 hours and take care of my sister who rightfully cried the entire time.

I put it out of my mind for decades until therapy somehow dug it back up and I realize how absolutely fucked up it was. We got McDonald's though.

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PeterPunksNip@reddit

I always refused to do babysitting, with force. I was babysat, along a 8 month old baby when I was 5, by a 15 years old girl. That's when I developed an intense aversion for babies. Oh lawwwd, the SCREAMING! Just unbearable.

I asked my mom to be left alone at home if there was a baby too. So I had one or two babysitters, all between 15 to 18. From the age of 8 I was left alone.

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LionessInDC@reddit

Paid? 13

Unpaid by my parents for younger siblings 5th grade is how old?

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retribution81@reddit

7

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mc_atx@reddit

I talk about this all the time! I had a twin sister and one a year older so our house was a honeypot for babysitters when I was 10-13. It blows me away we got paid $2/hr to watch infants!

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Kianna9@reddit

honeypot for babysitters

Really want to understand what you mean by this.

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mc_atx@reddit

Hah sorry that sounds kinda inappropriate but really I just mean one phone call and there are 3 babysitters available.

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Sticktalk2021@reddit

8

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Odd-Comfortable-6134@reddit

My babysitter would leave me with the younger kids while she went shopping, so I’d be responsible for a 3 year old and a 1 year old.

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sitewolf@reddit

when my mother was growing up in the 20s, she babysat even older brothers when she was 8

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Silent-Talk@reddit

I was 7 and taking care of my younger sister who was 4. I walked with her to school and prepared snacks, helped getting her ready in the morning and lunches.

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chadnorman@reddit

When I was 9 my babysitter was 12... he taught me how to code in BASICA

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ndGall@reddit

Ah, BASICA. The skill that didn’t really get most of us anywhere at all? It was fun typing in pages of code from PC magazines to have new games, though.

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chadnorman@reddit

I mean, my first job out of college in the late 90s was as a front-end developer, so it definitely kindled a fire in me and got me somewhere!

But yeah... I still have both of my Basic Computer Games books, if these look familiar!

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Shamanduh@reddit

You guys had babysitters? I had older brothers, wouldn’t recommend.

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yanknga@reddit

I was the oldest brother. Don’t annoy your older brothers and things will be cool. 😎

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HortenseDaigle@reddit

haha. I hated my big brother for years until we both moved out. Realized our parents pitted us against each other.

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Charming-Lychee-9031@reddit

I eas around 9 when I'd babysit twins that were only 4 years younger

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NihilsitcTruth@reddit

I was 13 when I started up till I was 18 had multiple families I babysat for one perment one for 2 years 3pm till 8 pm m to f.

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IranticBehaviour@reddit

Started watching younger siblings for brief periods with a parent nearby (like next door) at about 7-8. Babysat them for real (like for hours while folks were out) at 11. Was watching other people's kids by 12. Also started mowing lawns and shoveling driveways by 13, but babysitting was easier money, lol.

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SaltyEngineer45@reddit

I was maybe 10 babysitting my brother and cousins. The fights were legendary lol.

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Sorry_Im_Trying@reddit

I started babysitting (outside of my house) at 9 years old. I was taking care of two neighbor girls in the morning before school. Their mom worked first shift, so I helped get them ready (breakfast). Dad worked third shift, so he was sleeping upstairs.

By the time I was 12 I was babysitting over night at just anyone's house apparently. I remember I babysat someone I never met, and their mom never came home. (she pulled an overnighter somewhere). I was pissed and never sat for that family again. Their house was gross too, so at least I had a lot to do while I was there.

Back then, we cleaned and watched the kids. Little moms that got $2 an hour!

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TheChocolateWarOf74@reddit

My brothers are 7 and 9 years younger older than me. They were babysitting me when they were fairly young.

I also remember some of the friends and classmates babysitting me when they were 11-12. Angela and Christa. I adored them both.

I was 11-12 years old when my oldest nephew was born. My brother and ex sister in law were living with us at the time. I started helping out with my nephew then.

He had colic and slept in the room directly across the hall from me. My brother kept getting upset because I would pull the vacuum cleaner into my room and turn it on. The white noise relaxed my nephew and we would both go to sleep. As soon as my brother unplugged it my nephew would start screaming again.

My next nephew came along 17 months later, and I watched both all the time.

I never really considered it babysitting. I absolutely adored spending every moment with them that I could. Their mom is not a great person and both send me mother’s day cards every year because I was a more steady and reliable figure in their life.

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EnjoyingTheRide-0606@reddit

A friend had a convo with her neighbor (another mom) once while I was leaving. I said to the neighbor my child had gotten her driver’s license - since we had girls in the same high school class. She said it would be a long while for hers to get a driver’s license, maybe not til after college when she starts working at a career.

My friend is a child psychologist. She asked how that’ll work to go away to college without knowing how to drive or having a license. The lady said it would be fine since college would be like insulated living, even though it’s 3000 miles from home! My friend said she will rethink that decision… and the mother did change her mind about it when she realized the high school aged driver could pick up her siblings from middle and elementary school!

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ancientastronaut2@reddit

I only babysat once as a kid, around 11 or 12 and I was not asked back.

I fell asleep in the living room and the parents came home to find the baby upset in her crib with a soaked diaper.

It was our next door neighbor.

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LayerNo3634@reddit

Don't compare Gen X 10-12 year olds to today's 10-12 year olds. We walked home from school alone from Kindergarten. We were allowed to do things and figure things out. It built a maturity and responsibility that today's kids (and teens) lack.

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shellebelle89@reddit

Truth

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KatintheCove@reddit

I was babysitting at home by 7 or 8 and other people’s kids at 11.

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LurkerFantastic@reddit

I was 9 or 10, every other Saturday night, watching my sister who was four years younger while my parents went out to their couples bowling league.

They started doing that when the babysitters were only a couple of years older than I was.

Saturday night TV! Was the line up Solid Gold, Hee Haw, Knight Rider, Love Boat?!?!

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Stubborn_Strawberry@reddit

I remember watching the neighbour's 2 year old toddler when I was 7. The adults were getting drunk/high/passed out/whatever. I was the only girl, so it fell to me. Someone had to take care of him.

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trulysplendid1@reddit

I watched my next door neighbor’s 2-3 year old son often when I was 7-8. Alone while they were gone for hours. I loved it. Mind boggling to consider now 🤣

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KeefKake@reddit

Also started at 8 or 9 watching my baby sisters while mom and friends went to the bars. To be fair though, she worked her ass of all week as a single mom trying to support 3 of us so I gave her some slack.

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Key-Educator-3018@reddit

I was 10. In charge of a toddler and a five year old. I look back and say everyone involved were nutz. I did it for months. I quit when the toddler fell off a boat trailer and busted his sister's nose. All the adults didn't see it as a big deal but I was horrified. My dad said I only quit because I was lazy. This is the mid 70s. That boat was one of the reasons both parents worked. Sheesh 🙄

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Sea-Dish4364@reddit

I was 11 when my sister had her baby while living at home as a teen mom. So I was immediately put to work as a free babysitter. That baby and I are very close now, but at the time, I very much resented it. I resented it even more when my sister had another baby two years later (still living at home), and I had to share a bedroom with her and *two* screaming children that I was forced to babysit.

And my mom wondered why I stopped at having one, myself...

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rhionaeschna@reddit

I was babysitting by 11 for family. For strangers by the time I was 14. I remember taking the St.John's Ambulance course and everything.

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Ok-Razzmatazz-7593@reddit

I was 12 and got to experience first hand the sight of a truly broken man. I still hate his now ex wife but he ending up with a woman that he truly deserves not the cow that cheated with one of their friends.

This is what can happen when kids babysit. I babysat the three kids so she could cheat. I hated that I was put in that position.

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sony1015@reddit

9 here

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BenjiBoo420@reddit

9

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Otherwise_Object_446@reddit

Me too. Then at 11 I was a school patrol on a four lane street with a speed limit of 60 km/hr. The 80’s were wild.

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BenjiBoo420@reddit

I was also a latch key kid. Were you one too?

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Otherwise_Object_446@reddit

I was not but instead had a stay at home mom who never wanted us home. When I think about what we got up to without any supervision it is scary.

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curiouserthangeorge@reddit

I was 9.

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Lightningstruckagain@reddit

I was the rare guy babysitter. Family down the street had 2 boys around 6 or 7, I was probably 13. Would walk over, spend a few hours building legos and eating snacks. Couldn’t believe I was getting paid to that. Didn’t have to bathe or get them to bed. Easy money.

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chadnorman@reddit

I posted elsewhere here, but I had one like you! When I was 9, my babysitter was 12 in 1982. I was friends with his little brother. While my parents were out dancing, he taught me how to code in BASICA!

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Pink_pineapple_pizza@reddit

For several years when I was in elementary school, my brother and I had a guy baby sitter. He was my mom’s friend’s kid. I’d say he was maybe 16 when he started babysitting us. Good guy.

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Cassiopeia2021@reddit

12, had to watch my 3 younger siblings and one was 6 months old. Not paid.

I now have kids and would never left them in charge of a baby at 12.

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PissedCaucasian@reddit

I remember I was so miffed my mom got a babysitter for me at like 12 or 13 and the girl she got was 13 or 14 to babysit me . I was so mad until….. the babysitter showed up and she was absolutely gorgeous! We ended up flirting the whole time and when my mom came home we didn’t even hear her and were sitting on the couch with our faces inches away. My mother had a shocked look on her face and then took the girl immediately home and came home to tell me she thought I was too old for being babysat. I was then angry about that!

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Quietus76@reddit

I was cooking dinner for my siblings somewhere between 10 and 12.

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Missanthope@reddit

9

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InevitableOk5017@reddit

Baby sat myself at 7.

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shellebelle89@reddit

I was 11 when I started babysitting for my neighbor down the street. I think the boys were about 4 and 6. My mom was usually home so if there’d been an emergency it would have been fine. Basically made $1 hr to make sure everyone survived. Everyone I babysat for at that age knew what they were paying for. Your house probably wasn’t going to be clean when you got home, but your children would be alive. As a parent, this is terrifying to me. At 11, had there been an emergency I would not have had the capacity to handle it.

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Tibor7597@reddit

Oh, same thing! I was 11 and sent down the street to babysit. I was also the youngest child in my family with no knowledge of babies... i was just chucked in. It was not a great idea and if something major.hppened there's no way I could have dealt with it.

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Bright_Broccoli1844@reddit

11 or 12

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BrinkinDourbon@reddit

I started watching my younger brother when I was 10-11. He reminds me how poorly I did and I’m like, would you allow your 10 year old child watch their siblings. Then it kicks in to them that maybe yeah, I shouldn’t have been asked to watch a person younger than me daily at such a young age

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Kaedryl@reddit

I was 11 or 12 based on what I was reading at the time. Watched friends of my parents baby while they all went out to the bars. I guess she was around 4-6 months as she wasn't crawling and I had to make up a bottle of formula. Zero prior experience, had a couple of infant cousins but that's about it. Thankfully everything was ok and we both survived.

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mbadolato@reddit

I mean, it's even depicted in later movies like The Incredibles. Which makes sense considering a lot of the writers and animators were likely our generation. Kari was 13 and babysitting infant Jack-Jack while the rest of the family was on Sydrome's island lair

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astrobuck9@reddit

The movie also took place in the 70s.

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Jas62021@reddit

6 when my mom had me watching my 2 yr old sister.

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External-Trip2700@reddit

Babysat at 10! Who left me at 10 with their tiny kids? And why did my parents say that was ok?

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TakeTheThirdStep@reddit

I was the oldest of 4 and started being left with my siblings when I was 9 years old. They would have been 6, 4, and 6-9 months old at the time.

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Admirable_Tear_1438@reddit

I was babysitting, unpaid, a very large and unpredictable 12 year old boy with Down’s syndrome, when I was 8. Mind you, it was my babysitter that left me in charge, while she went out.

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PinkRoseBouquet@reddit

I was 12 or 13 when I started babysitting. Loved the little kids I cared for. I still think about them sometimes.

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Ok-Actuator8579@reddit

I was getting paid to babysit by age 12. The kids were monsters. The parents would go out and have a few drinks and then the father would drive me home after. He would reek of alcohol and he did his best to be pleasant and make awkward conversation. I hated it but liked having the money to spend on stickers, movie popcorn and cassette tapes.

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Lightningstruckagain@reddit

All perfectly good investments for any teen

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MultiPerception8892@reddit

Started watching my sister all day during the summer at age 8. By 9, dad would leave for work before we woke up for school so I’d wake to no adults in the house, get us ready for school and walk 6 blocks before dawn. Sitting babies for pay by 12.

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formercotsachick@reddit

I was the neighborhood babysitter starting at 11. I cared for up to 5 kids at a time for a buck an hour lol. One of the infants I babysat had colic, which I had no idea existed, and her parents would leave a literal tween with a non-stop screaming baby for hours at a time. I also sat for a family whose house was infested with fleas, which left me with bites all over my ankles.

All I can say is that the day I turned 16 I got a job in Retail, and I never babysat again.

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MountainTomato9292@reddit

14? Babysitting 2yo twin boys. But responsible for my 7 years younger sister much earlier.

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Odd_Environment2269@reddit

Yup, started getting paid at 11. By 14 I started asking my own parents pick me up because I could tell the parents I was sitting for would come home drunk

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blueboatmich66@reddit

Sounds familiar. The couple I sat a newborn for, the mom got out of the car and fell down and couldn’t get up. Thankfully;

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salymander_1@reddit

I was 18 months old when my mom started having me watch my newborn sister while she took a shower. It was only about 20 minutes at a time, but I was way, way too young. I used to feed and change my sister, too. 🤦‍♀️

I was 5 when my parents started having me take my 3.5 year old sister to the park by ourselves. We were not allowed to cross the street alone, though. So, when we were done at the park (that was several blocks away!), we had to stand there across the street from our house, yelling until our dad came out to walk us across. We were sometimes out there yelling for a half hour before he came out.

When I was 6, I was responsible for taking care of my sister and making dinner for the family. We ate a lot of mac and cheese and hamburger helper, because no one taught me how to cook. On Saturdays, I made pancakes or French toast for breakfast before we watched cartoons.

When I was 7, I was responsible for walking my sister across town to her swimming and gymnastics lessons. I was given a hand drawn map and sent on our way.

I started babysitting my dad's coworker's infant when I was 8. My dad kept the money.

I was working in the church nursery every week at age 9. I didn't want to go to church, so I got out of that and Sunday school by volunteering in the nursery.

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blueboatmich66@reddit

I was 12 baby sitting a six week old newborn. The year was 1977. Baby’s parents went golfing. I was their go to for three years.

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ShirazGypsy@reddit

I blame the Babysitters Club books

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Affectionate_Leg5088@reddit

Watched 3 kids at 12 y.o. 8 y.o, 5 y.o. and a baby. Back in 83. Absolute madness. 😂

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ShirazGypsy@reddit

I baby sat for a family with 5 kids all summer long, all day, 5 days a week when I was 13. The oldest kid was only 3 years younger than me

I baby sat an infant when I was 12

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JulesyJ@reddit

I was 12. I would walk a mile from school to her (5) daycare , then walk us both to her apartment. Which was 2 miles further. I would never have allowed that when my son was her age. Funny enough, my husband and I ended up living in the same building I used to babysit in over 30 yrs later. They ended up making them condos and had upgraded the pool and dock area.

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PoetLucy@reddit

Watched my three week old brother at seven. He got sick, vomit. I cleaned him. Washed all his sheets in building basement. Got him back to sleep with a bottle I knew how to prepare. Still was worried I’d be in trouble “the baby” got sick.

Still harbor some resentment……

:J

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OkTouch5699@reddit

At 11, I "nannied" my 7yo neighbor for during the summer, i think it was $10 a week. At 13 I also nannied a 9 yo. I think it was like 25 a week. I also babysat infants to children then. I started working at a church daycare at 14. I made $2.oo an hour and had to clean the bathrooms, of potty training toddlers. I worked there until I got lice. So about 4 months.

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HatRemov3r@reddit

Watching kids before you’re the age of 12 is WILD

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obstreperousRex@reddit

I was a latchkey kid at 8 taking care of one of my brother. Started taking care of the other brother by 10. That includes dinner and sometimes bath time.

My dad worked second shift and it wasn't unusual for my mom to work until 9 or 9:30 at night.

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ZarinaBlue@reddit

At 7 I was walking my 5 year old sister home and keeping us alive till mom got home from work. Dad was in the military so this was on a base.

I was 11 and watching toddlers for pay.

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Charming_Butterfly90@reddit

I was 8. Babysat my cousin when she was a newborn. At 10 I was babysitting her and her newborn brother. Their dad was a firefighter and mom worked as a waitress right down the street. It was usually only about 4 hours. My mom was less than a mile away. Nothing bad ever happened. 🤔

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prntmakr@reddit

I think I was 14 when I started to babysit neighbors’ kids for pay. One had a relative who had a peach farm and had a freezer full of peaches in syrup. Their five year old and I would thaw some and share some over conversations about life. I miss that.

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ukelele_pancakes@reddit

I was 12 watching a preemie newborn who had a heart monitor, and her older brother who was probably 5. Can’t imagine what their parents were thinking.

I was told that they wanted me bc I was one of two kids who passed the CPR test at school. Sure I passed, but that was on a plastic adult dummy 🤦‍♀️

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Practical-Row-6499@reddit

I was 12 and babysat a 7,5,2 year old and a newborn, I didn’t even touch the newborn and the other kids fought mercilessly. The 2 year old ended up with a goose egg on her head, it was hell. I was also not a mature 12 year old…

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Tokenchick77@reddit

I was just thinking about this! I was more confident watching kids then than I am now! I was about 11 when I started babysitting kids who were 4 and 2 by myself. I can't even imagine what I would have done if something had gone wrong. Or how parents trusted their children to a child myself.

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Copperdunright907@reddit

10

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W33CH0@reddit

Yall got paid?!

I watched my brother, 4 yrs younger than me, off and on from the time I was 8. Summer of '87 I babysat both him & my newborn sister for the whole summer. They only year I remember being happy to go back to school.

Pretty sure thats why I never had my own kids. My niece (same sisters kid) asked me who the last baby I held was. I just pointed to her Mom and that blew my nieces mind. Lol

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LostDepartment4512@reddit

I watched 4 kids at the age of 12. It did not go well. My brother's would hop the train and ride it to the general store to get penny candy from the pop bottles they cashed in. Lol

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Goats-n-Hens@reddit

I was 11 and was watching a 6 month old for $2/hr in 1983. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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BallsOutSally@reddit

I was 11 watching a 6, 4 & under 2 for $2/hr in 1986. I stopped watching the kids when I had to walk a mile home in the dark at 2am because the parents came home “from work” drunk.

Oh, and they never paid me.

If you are reading this Mr. & Mrs. Bigwood—You guys were truly irresponsible people.

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GearSlow3796@reddit

Wow. $2/hr was a nice pay upgrade from the late 70s. I made 50 cents-$1.00 an hour!

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Negative-Appeal9892@reddit

I was about 12 years old when I babysat two toddlers.

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jackspasm@reddit

I was 8 and needing a babysitter or going to my granny's house just wasn't needed anymore. My granpa got angry because 8 kept getting up to pee one night and threw me against the wall. And I didn't have to stay with them anymore.

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BeigeSugar@reddit

1988- My mom went to California and I watched my 10 yo brother for a week. I was 12.

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sldavis102907@reddit

I was born in 1965 and my mom was NOT okay with me babysitting. I was always so jealous of my friends who always had spending money. As an adult I totally understand her position now.

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Moontoya@reddit

I walked to school, around 3miles each way, from age 6 when mum broke her ankle (dad was a firefighter and away a lot), walking my sister to the same school at age 7, through all kinds of shitty weather, nice big steep set of hills on the way home.

Story of my life is emotional neglect

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YVRkeeper@reddit

We moved from 3 blocks away from our elementary school to across town, but my parents didn’t want us to change schools (neither did we, I suppose) Mom was a nurse on shifts. Dad drove trucks, gone for days at a time. We were alone a lot.

From about 8yo up till graduation we walked to/from school, rain, snow or shine. Had a few memorable altercations along the way, for sure.

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Livid-Monitor-9007@reddit

I spoke to a fellow Gen X’r one time when I was doing Lyft. She was telling me how her parents would get her and her siblings bus tickets to go across Texas into New Mexico to see their grandparents but the parents would drop them off at the bus station.

They were 8,6, and 4 riding on their own

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Orangeboi_22@reddit

My sister and I were 6 & 7 or maybe 7&8 when my mom would put us on the Trailways bus from Memphis TN to Little Rock AR by ourselves to see our grandparents and never thought anything of it. Made us sit in the seat right behind the driver, and told the bus driver we were traveling alone. We knew better than to misbehave. Being older, my sister was terrified because she knew she was responsible for me, but I didn't think it was any big deal.

At least my mom waited around to make sure we got on the right bus.

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Main_Understanding10@reddit

When I was 10, my sister was 7, and my brother was 4 we flew from Kentucky to Florida to visit an aunt. My mom warned the airline that they’d better not lose us. Meanwhile I was worried that my brother, who had a lot of friends, would see an acquaintance named Jack and say “Hi Jack!”

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Back_Alley420@reddit

At 12 I baby sat multiple kids from newborn and up and had to cook meals for them and bathe them for hours! I made good money but had no idea what I was doing

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PrincessMagDump@reddit

I remember calling up my friend when I realized the littlest one was in cloth diapers to ask her what I should do.

The kids parents gave me no instructions other than a bedtime, I had no idea where they were going and they left me no contact information.

My parents were busy doing their own things.

I was just a random 14 year old that lived across the street and they trusted me to watch their 5 young children without ever really talking to me.

It went fine, they had good snacks, but it could have gone really bad. I was just winging it, I didn't know anything about childcare, I didn't even have any younger siblings.

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SteakSwimming1234@reddit

Navy brat, started watching my brother the same year I got my dependent ID, 10.

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Jaybetav2@reddit

I was 12 watching a 4 year old. Madness

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realitychecker1@reddit

My first overnight babysitting job, 1986, Albuquerque, NM, the baby was 18 months. I read a Stephen King book 'The Cycle of The Werewolf" that the mom said was really good. Scared the living shit out of me. It was a good book. Made $20! I was 11.

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PhiloLibrarian@reddit

My 10 year old wants to start babysitting but I want her to be CPR certified first…

I started at 11.

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Long_Employment_8970@reddit

I took a babysitting course that included the CPR certification. I was 11. 😆 Passed the course in a weekend and started babysitting.

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MamooMagoo@reddit

I am more disturbed that my parents only paid for 1 year of after school care for me. Kindergarten I got watched because it was only half day school. Starting in 1st grade, I got a key and was told to watch tv and not let anyone in the house.

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NoRestForTheWitty@reddit

Kindergarten, I got to go back to my Montessori nursery school in the afternoon because my parents both worked. Fortunately, I liked it there.

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sometimelater0212@reddit

Same

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TheCatWhoOvercame@reddit

I lived in Idaho, where the driving age is 14, and I couldn't drive yet--the dad would come pick me up. Five kids, one still in diapers. $2 an hour.

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QueenRotidder@reddit

9 maybe? For my 2 year old brother LMAO

oddly enough he is the most successful of all of us.

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sometimelater0212@reddit

Ya done good, Queen

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Ill_Pressure3893@reddit

Oldest of three and it was Lord of the Flies.

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sometimelater0212@reddit

Omg this is me and my older brother and younger siblings. Shit was literally traumatizing.

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NYC-WhWmn-ov50@reddit

I think my 9yo brother technicall was said to be sitting me at 6- but now he'd probably be considered on the spectrum and could literally forget I was even there sometimes, so it was always more ME sitting HIM. I made sure we had lunch and drank plenty of soda to stay hydrated, and he did whatever he was doing that day which amazingly never set the gouse on fire (he was always 'investigating' how electeical stuff worked).

Pretty sure my first job sitting someone else's kids- a newborn- was when I was 11. I think they had pizza delivered while it was me and the baby alone.

How the hell are any of us still alive?

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sometimelater0212@reddit

I was left alone for hours at night with a newborn when I was SEVEN. Even on school nights.

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DesperateWonder442@reddit

I was 10. My siblings were 7, 5, 3, and 3 months. I was regularly left with all of them for hours at a time. I don't even remember having a way to feed the baby. I just remember him crying a lot so I walked with him the entire time. God I had no idea what I was doing!

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Curious_Arm_7927@reddit

I actually think about this once a week and shake my head. At 12 I babysat a 2 and 3 year old for 20 hrs per week. I think they paid me like $5 an hour. Wild.

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Upset_Peace_6739@reddit

I was 9 or 10 when I started watching my siblings. I was 11 when I started watching other people’s kids.

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BlacksmithThink9494@reddit

Same here.

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stabby_mcunicorn@reddit

12 for .50/hour! I regularly watched kids as young as 2.

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Diesel07012012@reddit

"Boys don't babysit."

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

I never did. Not even considered. I was ok with that.

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Either_Statement1980@reddit

10 and it was a toddler and an infant

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InvestigatorBubbly43@reddit

Wow! I started at age 12, but I’m seeing ages 8-9 on here! I definitely was too young and yet everyone lived. I did have some close calls….baby rolled off the changing table and I freaked out. No one was there to help. She seemed ok so I never said anything 🤯 Looking back, I didn’t know what was the proper protocol.

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TexasRN1@reddit

I babysat twins at 10. What were we thinking? I asked if I could give them a bath with their diapers on? lol

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ElvetZ@reddit

9…for a premature baby

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Frosty_Bluebird_1404@reddit

Doesn't blow my mind...babysat at 10. Cooked, cleaned, swam in open water unsupervised and lived to tell the tale. I'm better for it.

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JJQuantum@reddit

7th grade is when I started babysitting my nieces and nephews.

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Carrera_996@reddit

My son is a 7th grader. He looks after his little sister for a couple of hours here and there. I trust him far more most adults. He's got his shit together.

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1980pzx@reddit

That tells me that he has good parents!

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sarcasticorange@reddit

What blows my mind is how people today underestimate the capabilities of kids and actively damage their development by withholding responsibility.

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EaterOfFood@reddit

One of the best things we did with our kids is showing them that we trusted them and giving them a long leash. It wasn’t always easy, but now they’re all very independent.

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AdvokatefortheDevil@reddit

Laura Ingalls was 16 when she began teaching. Its crazy how we have infantilized teens to where people say a 23 year old is still a child.

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kninjapirate-z@reddit

I was 10 walking a baby in a stroller around the neighborhood.

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TheBaroness1934@reddit

Meanwhile, one of my friends won't even let her 15-year-old son alone for a few hours after school, still hires a babysitter for him when she goes out, and freaked out when he walked around a city neighborhood alone for twenty minutes. The kid is about six-two and has a mustache.

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1980pzx@reddit

Geez, poor kid. That’s definitely extreme.

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asktheages1979@reddit

What's the problem supposed to be?

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ranhayes@reddit

I was babysitting my cousins when I was about 10. They were 2 and 1.

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Tomatillo-5276@reddit

My sister & I - 9 & 10 year olds - babysat a neighbors baby occasionally.

We loved it because we could watch whatever TV shows e we wanted because at home we had to watch whatever my dad wanted to watch.
Turns out we wanted to watch Captain & Tenille. 🙄

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cmcrich@reddit

I started at 12, for $.50 an hour.

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Left_Guess@reddit

Same!

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Ianthin1@reddit

My sister started babysitting me around 8yo, and other kids at 10.

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cowboygwe@reddit

9

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junkmail0178@reddit

I was babysitting starting in the fourth or fifth grade, so I must have been 9-11. I have a brother two years younger than me and one five years younger. I was expected to keep the house clean and make my brothers do their homework and chores, and I had to have dinner ready when my parents came in. My brothers hated me for the longest time because I was always a third parent instead of their older brother, something that still has ripple effects to this day. I don’t know what my parents were thinking.

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chronicallysaltyCF@reddit

Millennial here I started babysitting my little brothers at 10 babysitting in my neighborhood some short daytime only jobs at 11 and started babysitting fully at 12. I look at 12 year olds now and think “someone trusted me when I was that to watch their 2 & 4 year old for 5 hours feed them dinner, put them to bed, and if a fire or robbery happened trusted I could handle keeping myself and them safe? Tf” Now 12 year olds 25 years ago when I was 12 and especially when you guys were kids I feel like we were generally more responsible and self sufficient but STILL.

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No_Mess_9814@reddit

12 yrs old watching an infant and two others under 10. As an adult….fucking insane

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Prettylittlelioness@reddit

10 for regular babysitting jobs. 14 when I actually left home and became a live-in nanny where the parents were never home. Some nights it was just me, the baby, and the Alzheimers-suffering grandmother. No way would I leave a kid that age with that level of responsibility these days.

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RepresentativeYam363@reddit

My sister is 2 years older than me. She was paid one summer to watch 4 kids for like a week while the mother (one of my Girl Scout troop leaders) went back to El Salvador. My sister had to be younger than 14 because we moved to a different town at that age. Anyway, the mom did not return and spent another (u planned) week in El Salvador! My mom had to call to make contact with the woman to demand her return home. Not sure what is more crazy, that my sister was asked/given permission to watch 4 kids 24/7 for a week or that the mom ghosted my sister and abandoned her own kids for an extra week until my mom threatened her to come home (or she would call CPS).

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Available_Thanks_131@reddit

11 or 12. I can clock it because a swat team busted down the door of a home i was babysitting for. Turned out the dad was one of the earliest computer hackers and there was a room in the house will all his computer servers hacking info from a long distance phone company. He did federal prison time and I can find news articles on it dated 1987, which made me 12 at the time. I think I had already been babysitting for a while before this incident.

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Prettylittlelioness@reddit

Please tell me you used this story in a college application essay.

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Dependent_Room_2922@reddit

OMG! That must have been so scary 😱

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Available_Thanks_131@reddit

It was! The poor kids were so scared. The swat team was very nice to me once they figured out what was going on which kept things fairly calm. This was the first (only) time I was at this house or babysat for this family too. Crazy! the 80s were wild lol. All I can recall is that I called my dad and he left work and showed up immediately, he was totally incredulous at the situation.

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Starkville@reddit

Just turned 11. When I was 16, I took care of three kids under 5 while their mother was in the hospital having #4. The dad cooked dinner and we sat and smoke cigarettes and have a glass of wine after they went to bed. (No hanky panky!). It was a day or two of nonstop child care.

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therealgookachu@reddit

My mom was a nurse and I had started taking care of my younger cousins when I was about 6 or 6. By the time I was 11, I was babysitting all over the neighborhood. Everyone assumed that cos my mom was a nurse, it was fine.

Between 11-16, I helped raise about 20 kids. I was working around 20 hours a week, starting Friday nites. I’d work every weekend nite (that I wasn’t busy doing something school related). It would usually start about 5 or 6 pm, and would last well past midnite, usually 1-2 am.

One family, I became almost a nanny. I’d work from right after school (they picked me up) and would work till the mother got home, usually midnite. The eldest was 4 when I started, and I took care of the baby from 1 week old till they started school.

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butterflygardyn@reddit

I started babysitting the neighbors kids(3 and 4) when I was 8. Got 25 cents an hour.

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migraine24-7@reddit

I did a CPR babysitting course summer between 5th & 6th, 10 watching younger siblings alone though much younger I was helping older sibling. By 11, I was getting paid to babysit neighborhood kids during the day and as I got more comfortable, my responsibilities progressed to evnings. Babysitting was my primary job until I went off to college.

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GeoHog713@reddit

I was definitely watching my younger brother when I was 8. Started watching the neighbors kids, when I was 12.

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adonothinggal@reddit

I think I was in 5th grade but I took a babysitting course to get CPR certified.

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Laura_in_Philly@reddit

Me too! I even charged extra for being certified

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bongripchick@reddit

I was getting paid babysitting gigs by age 11. I took a babysitter basics training with my Girl Scout troop which made me the preferred choice to watch all my parent’s church friend’s kids. My weekends were ALWAYS booked, Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday afternoons or evenings. I would always have a huge wad of cash on me to purchase the lamest shit for me and my friends (lip gloss, candy, charms, music tapes, and more candy). NYE was my big money maker because I’d be watching like 10 kids at once including babies. Some of these kids I was watching were nearly my own age. I’d have living room dance parties so I could keep my eye on all of them. My folks never made me save that money or a portion of it, but I wish they would have. I also started working at an air conditioning company at age 16, I had to get some worker’s permit from my school. I’ve never not worked. Born in ‘77.

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RepresentativeYam363@reddit

I was 12 and remember babysitting a 3 and 7yo in evening till about 11pm so parents could go on date night. The 3yo had hearing impairments and wore hearing aids. He gave me such trouble taking out the hearing aids and going to bed. I distinctly remember they were not fully removed and the hearing aids making loud high pitch squealing noise/feedback when he was fighting to not remove them. I also recall my mom letting me know the mom called to complain they found the hearing aid on the floor after they came home and I had already left. I was clearly in over my head trying to care for a young child with disability that had some behavioral issues of going to bed.

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Aloh4mora@reddit

11 years old! I took a first aid class before I started, but in hindsight, I was not at all competent to be taking care of several toddlers.

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Dependent_Room_2922@reddit

13 watching preschooler-aged kids. I remember constant lowlevel terror that one of them would get injured playing and I wouldn’t know what to do

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MollyMoMoMags@reddit

Age 11. Conveniently that’s also when I started buying my own clothes, toiletries, and books. Just grateful I guess that I didn’t get charged for rent and food! 😂

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UtahSpartan80s@reddit

I was twelve watching FOUR kids including an infant. It was so hard I sat and cried once after they went to bed.

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seemsright_41@reddit

I lived in a complex of townhomes, when I was 9-10 and I was the go to babysitter. I had a babysitting job almost every day. At 12-14 I was babysitting 6 year old for the entire day. It was not much money but enough to buy school clothes.

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heartwoodhoney@reddit

I was 11 and babysat for two of Pat Boones grandkids.

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hikeitaway123@reddit

People have no idea how GenX survived and why we are so tired and fed up now!!

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yothisismetrying@reddit

We have been working, in one sense or the other, since we could walk.

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TrueCrimeInTheBuff@reddit

my mom used to joke that I walked out of her womb with a joint and black coffee in one hand while flipping off the doctor with the other and telling her I didn't have time for her bullshit because I had to be to work 🤣

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hikeitaway123@reddit

Exactly and in solo survival mode.

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yothisismetrying@reddit

gif

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AyeAyeBye@reddit

I started taking my sibling on a town bus to get pizza at ages 9 and 3. Miles away from home. Typically with a few girl friends. I remember getting harassed by men. Sadly. Other than that the memories are good ones. Adventure, etc.

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Awkin-Sopwith@reddit

I remember taking a little course in school, grade 6, about how to babysit and after that I was allowed to babysit my siblings for short stints. That was 10 or 11 years old.

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DrKlahnsRightHandMan@reddit

10 seems to be the magic number. From that age on I became responsible for watching my little brother every afternoon and every other weekend or so when Mom would work extra shifts. I don't remember getting paid, I think mom would just cook my favorite dinner the following week and call it even.

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rheagmb@reddit

I think I was 10 or 11, looking after a 7 year-old & a baby. Like, what??

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CommunicationHappy20@reddit

I was 4 & 5 years old taking care of my baby sister. I was 6 and 7 watching my cousins when we visited my grandparents. I started babysitting for neighbor kids at 9.

I was parentified at a very young age and it’s fucked me up. I don’t know how to be “off duty”.

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TrueCrimeInTheBuff@reddit

I never baby sat, thankfully my parents made it very clear to the whole neighborhood and everyone else in our family that I would never ever babysit. I loved hearing my mom telling people to "fuck off already, she's not taking care of your kids" A lot of people tried to manipulate my mom in to forcing me to babysit. 🙄

I preferred to make extra cash doing yardwork and gardening. I also liked grocery shopping for the elders in my neighborhood and helping them meal prep or reorganizing their house. Never babysitting.

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Primary-Initiative52@reddit

Not casting any shade on you or your mom, but what had you both so adamantly against babysitting? Was it just that you didn't care to do it and your mom stuck up for you? If so, way to go mom! I probably would have been forced to. 😞

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TrueCrimeInTheBuff@reddit

I never wanted to babysit and was always targeted by parents in the neighborhood to be a babysitter. People in our huge extended family tried too. I am not and have never been comfortable around babies. She refused to let people pressure me in to being a babysitter and it happened a lot because the only other girl in my neighborhood was a hardcore crack addict who did time for throwing a baby that she was babysitting.

But there were always women looking to work babysitting in our area, the parents just didn't want to pay well.

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RickLeeTaker@reddit

I was 10 for my younger sister and brother and 11 for the neighbor's kids.

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lonelyronin1@reddit

I knew at 11 I didn't want kids after changing a dirty diaper - this was for an actual job.

I had been babysitting my sister for at least 2 years before that.

This is why we shake our heads at some of these kids - they can barely function as teenage in mundane tasks, let alone anything with actual responsibility.

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Rowaan@reddit

I was 7 taking care of my younger brothers. 7!! WTH and why was I home alone with little ones that young? I will never understand it. My parents were out of the door by 7 and had made sure we all had breakfast. It was then on me to get us all dressed and ready. I had to walk them to the babysitter then myself to school. From school pick them up and take them home. I'd be with them until one of my parents got home. Sometimes 5 but many times later. And this was during school months. Summer months it was me all day alone with them. There are reasons why my brother had orange hair (spray painted his head) and why we had fiberglass all over us (sliding down the fiberglass roof into the baby pool). The absolute stupid shit we got into was unreal.

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RoundLobster392@reddit

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Subject-Direction628@reddit

I was 10, it was for the next door neighbours

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tampaforfun@reddit

I was 12 and watched after my 9 year old step brother in the summer. When I was 15 I babysat for other kids some times. When I was 14 I mowed lawns. Bought my 82 Z28 on 16th birthday cash with my own money. At 18 paid my own college and apartment with brother.

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archedhighbrow@reddit

I was in 4th grade. Thankfully, the kid fell for it when telling him it was bedtime. I watched The Muppets and Siskel & Ebert.

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Sloth_grl@reddit

I only worked as an unpaid babysitter for my mountain of nieces and nephews.

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Odd_Policy_3009@reddit

I think I was 12?

I didn’t like it though and started working “for real” at 16 waiting tables at Friendly’s. Loved that place

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Free_Negotiation4026@reddit

Babysat at 11. Parents left us home for the weekend at 14.

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cantcountnoaccount@reddit

I had this amazing job when I was in middle school (so I was 12 or 13) for my neighbors across the street. Basically the mom worked from home in a home office with a separate entrance (I believe she was some manner of therapist). I would pick up her son from school around the corner (he was about 8) walk him home, give him a snack, and then watch cartoons or play Lego till 5 when she’d be done with her clients. Basically what I would have done anyway after school, except they paid me.

For this I made more than minimum wage and if there was a real emergency (there never was), his mom was actually physically there.

Consistent $50/week the whole school year which was a ton of money in 1988. Easiest money I ever made in my life.

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selinaluv74@reddit

Watched my brother at 8 and other kids at 11.

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Ok_Explorer604@reddit

This is funny. I remember babysitting my brother when I was 10 and we were home alone. Nobody batted an eyelash at the time. I couldn't imagine having one of the nephews or nieces do that these days. The times have changed.

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moreoftenthansum@reddit

I started babysitting at 10! One family left me with their 6-week-old colicky baby while the mom went back to work. (Thank goodness maternity leave is longer now.) I remember being completely overwhelmed, trying everything to soothe that little baby, and by the time the mom got home from work, that baby & I were both in tears.

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evilpercy@reddit

My parents had no idea where I was most of the time. My children are in their 20's and I always know where they are.

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domesticmess@reddit

I think I was 12, one year later I was regularly babysitting 5 kids-infant twins, 2 toddlers and an 8 year old.
I once babysat for 3 kids for like 45 minutes and the dad paid me $5! I felt like I won the lottery!

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Trick-Reindeer-7393@reddit

I was 12

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Impressive_Crazy_223@reddit

Seeing as how humans have probably been doing this for thousands of years, it probably should be blowing our minds that we don't give kids responsibility at an early age any more.

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Taminella_Grinderfal@reddit

It’s all about balance. Kids shouldn’t be working in factories or expected to be an “extra parent”, but I agree that giving young kids reasonable responsibilities like chores or babysitting for a few hours is necessary to help them develop. I remember enjoying the fact that adults thought I was “mature and responsible”. As a kid, it made me feel important.

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SignificantTransient@reddit

And then they're 20 years old and don't know how to handle responsibility

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MundaneHuckleberry58@reddit

I started babysitting when I was 12.

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GreaseSlitherspoon@reddit

Yeah 7 or 8 here when I was babysitting

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chicadeaqua@reddit

Yep. And when I was 11/12 there was a gal who left her house to me to take care of her three little boys for a week or more at a time during the summer. Felt like it was my house and my kids.

She may have paid me $16 or something. 😂

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Buttercreamdeath@reddit

Same. Although I was already caring for my infant sister before than. Making her bottles, feeding and changing her at night because her crib was in my room.

My mom said "here is how you make a bottle of formula. When she cries, feed her, burp her and change her diaper. She'll eventually sleep through the night. If you wake me up and it's not an emergency, I will beat your ass."

I threw away all my baby dolls after that. They weren't cute or fun anymore.

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ZweitenMal@reddit

12 for me. 12 was the age to take the Red Cross infant cpr class or something. It seemed to be widely accepted that 12 was old enough to babysit others’ kids. Started with work friends of my parents but later just people in the neighborhood. I was really popular in high school and charged a premium ($6/hr iirc) because I never had plans on weekend nights.

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EttaJamesKitty@reddit

I was 10 or 11 when I baby sat for my former babysitter. I did it once or twice and didn't like it at all. Her kid was fine, I just didn't like being responsible for a smaller human (and...this is why I don't have kids).

When I was 12 & 13 she then hired me to clean her house on Saturday mornings so she could run errands and spend time with her kid. I worked for 4 hours and got paid $5/hr (which was more than minimum wage at the time). It was a great gig. My mom taught me how to clean things I didn't know how to and told me to always put things back where they were after I was done. And at 12 years old back in 1984 I was a better house cleaner than some of the adults I've hired now.

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GnorxA@reddit

It's even blowing our own minds.

But that shit happens to us

Alll the TIIIiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIme!

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newhappyrainbow@reddit

7 and then a two year old and a newborn at 9. Other people’s kids at 11 or 12.

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SprinklesGood3144@reddit

I was 12.

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RHGOtakuxxx@reddit

10 at home, 12 for others.

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Aggravating-Loss1805@reddit

9 at home age 11 for others

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wrldwdeu4ria@reddit

I was 7 when I started babysitting. Coincidentally, I was 7 when I decided to be childfree. Didn't stop babysitting until I was 16. Was told repeatedly that I would be repaid with free babysitting once I had kids. No thanks, I had no desire to guilt or force a child into free or near free babysitting. I knew how much I hated it.

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grayghostsmitten@reddit

Multiple kids at age of ten. Some for families I didn’t know. One such family - the boy gathered all the knifes in the house and then kicked us all out. That was fun.

The k my thing my mom told me - never eat the food they offer you. Seems she knew the houses were sketch, and I shouldn’t eat any food prepared out of their kitchens, but it was okay to throw me to the wolves and have me babysit there.

One time I remember these roommates getting home from the bar, and one of the guys they took home - that guy gave me a ride home. Late at night. At ten. Thankfully nothing happened. They were all strangers. Even the roommates. Not sure how my mom knew them.

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Fit_Subject_3256@reddit

I was 6 yo when I got my first paying babysitting job - can you imagine? I took care of a 1 yo baby every week for $1 an hour 😬

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KerissaKenro@reddit

Not too long ago children started working as maids in other people’s houses around ten. During the Industrial Revolution kids as young as five worked in factories. The last few decades are an aberration, for most of history kids started working as soon as they were capable. I am grateful that our kids get to be kids. But except for the extremely wealthy, this is a very new idea

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lht79@reddit

My mama trained me to babysit by having me help her best friend run “Mom’s Day Out” at our church early on. She knew.

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Monchichi_thumb@reddit

I was 8 when I started babysitting at a house kiddie corner away. They had a 6yo daughter and a 3yo son who were both extremely hyper but overall great kids. I remember having to be responsible enough to give the 3yo a bath before putting him to bed and would read to him. I would get paid maybe $5 to $8 for an evening of babysitting but that seemed like a lot plus they would order dominos pizza which I would otherwise never get so pretty sweet deal. I learned that son died of a brain tumor last year which sucks, he was a really nice kid and I’m sure grew up to be a good dude.

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teawbooks@reddit

I watched groups of 6-10 kids when I was 12/13. Their parents were at a weekly church meeting, and they would dump them off with me. I got paid $1 per kid for about 90 minutes of babysitting. I was also home by myself with a younger sibling starting around 9 years old. Parents worked.

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Professor-genXer@reddit

I started babysitting at 11. First job was two kids- a baby and a 5 year old.

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CK1277@reddit

I was 8 when I started babysitting other people’s children.

One of the families in my neighborhood did short term emergency foster placement. They had a toddler for the weekend and still had me babysit.

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