Raising a child is often described as being a mixed blessing. It both tests a parent’s patience and increases their capacity to love. All hardworking parents know that being able to get out of the house by themselves once in a while can really feel like a wonderful blessing. However, it can be difficult for a parent to leave their kids even for a short time, especially when they aren’t sure if the individual babysitting them will be competent enough for the job. How can the quality of a certain babysitter be measured by a parent before entrusting their kids to this person?
The following are the five major qualities that every babysitter should have that you hire to watch your children:
Patience
A potential babysitter’s patience is the main quality you should look for. It is well-known that children always test the patience of a new person in order to assess what their position is in the household. When a person is patient they are also confident. It isn’t necessary for them to overreact when a child misbehaves or does something bad since that will make the kids want to continue doing it. The babysitter does need to get ground rules established and discipline children in an acceptable and right way at all times.
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Responsibility
When evaluating a babysitter, this is the most critical trait to look for. It means they have a sense of urgency whenever it is needed, they keep a close watch on the children’s safety, and they own up to their own mistakes. Many problems can be caused by an irresponsible babysitter. She might leave your house a mess, or break your rules, or even worse jeopardize your children’s safety. The best thing you can due to evaluate what kind of responsibility a babysitter has is to directly observe them and learn what you can about her lifestyle. Find out if she works at home, whether her living area is clean and if she stays out of trouble.
Communication
The ability of the babysitter to communicate is another important thing that you should check for. Whether she is communicating with the parents or children, she needs to be able to understand how important it is on a babysitting job. That includes using diction that is easy to follow when talking to the kids so they can understand everything regarding their safety, their bedtime, and when their parents will be home. Knowledgeable and experienced babysitters also have a tendency to know what the ground rules are so that calls to the parents are minimized.
Resourcefulness
The babysitter’s resourcefulness also needs to be assessed. The babysitter needs to know what needs to be done and how it should be called in an emergency situation such as injury, flood, fire or other things that could arise. Although it is a good idea to brief the babysitter on emergency procedures and important matters before you leave, you want to have a babysitter who is well-prepared and is able to properly handle those kinds of situations.
Punctuality
Finally, babysitters should be punctual at all times. Showing up 10 to 20 minutes early on a consistent basis is the best way of ensuring that the parents are able to leave on time to get to their appointments. When a babysitter doesn’t show up on time without a proper excuse, particularly if it happens more than once, you might want to consider that as being an irresponsible way to treat your children.
Those are some of the most important qualities that you should look for when hiring a babysitter. The perfect babysitter would possess all of them, and even more. We will continue to provide suggestions and advice about babysitting and children on this site. Keep visiting us to learn more.