To ask your babysitting confessions?

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Was going to nc but cba. Was just listening to my friend saying she was going out tonight and someone from work's dd was babysitting, but it's ok 'cos she's "sensible"

Got me thinking all the tricks I got up to babysitting with various mates (early-mid 90s) and specifically the time when we got an empty Coke bottle and filled it with the entire contents of the parents' drink cabinet... Whisky, vodka/ brandy/ eggnog

We ended up spewing (inevitably) and blamed the 7 year old for the mess.

Another time, a different friend had turned down a lad's advances and he launched a brick through the window while we were watching telly Luckily the kids were in bed at this point and we just played dumb when the adults came home.

Aibu to think some parents would literally employ anyone to babysit back then?! Any other stories?

I used to babysit a neighbours kids when I was 13, the kids were about 6 and 9. I used to let them stay up as late as they wanted and watch whatever they wanted. I remember them watching that Chucky film, I don't think they slept for a week after that.

I went into the garage with the 9 year old to find a family friendly DVD. He found the ring, and wouldn't hear of watching anything else.

I let him watch it and he almost shat himself. I paid him £5 to not tell his mum, he took my cash and grassed

Oh God yeah I've just remembered we let a 9 yo watch Eurotrash once Hope it didn't affect him too much...!

The 6 year old I babysat is in prison now. Unrelated to the trauma I hope!

Oh gawd. Me & a friend babysat a family of six children for a weekend. We were 15 I think.

Got locked out. The 3 year old had to wee in the driveway. I eventually broke in (with a boomerang).

im a nosy little bugger when I babysit once I was staying over so I ordered a take away for my self when the kids where sleeping the mother was a totel health freak with the kids and her running obsession and I had managed to leave my ice cream in there freezer next time I came it had a spoon in the tub and was half eaten obviously got fed up of health food

Here's mine..

I was an au pair in Italy at 19 to a family, first child, bout 4 months old? Thin placid little thing, always seemed hungry?. I crushed up some baby biscuits I'd bought with my pay into her formula to feed her.

Result= happy thriving child but, my god! Was I racked with guilt and how the hell was I going to explain her more solid bowel movements? .

now, these years on, I really wouldn't have liked a random au pair over riding my instructions .

I think the youngest child we were ever left with was 9 mo

We were only 14. It just wouldn't happen now would it?? Basically, the mum told us if he wakes up give him some pop in his bottle and he'll go back to sleep!!!

(He did!)

All sorts - nosing around 'private' areas of the house; sniggering over finding 'The Joy of Sex' on the book shelf - it was the 1970s ! Endlessly swigging from the sherry bottle. Inviting boy friends round.

Can't quite believe how popular I was as a babysitter.

Can also remember the odd occasions when a DF would try to be 'over friendly' when walking me home. .

I never did anything outrageous actually. Was a very good babysitter.

Though I once was babysitting for a woman who had met someone online (not nearly as common then as it is now), she gave me his mobile number in case I needed to get hold of her. Her DC got really upset at one point, so I said we'd call her. He was fine after that, but I still called her, and he only said goodnight then passed the phone back to me. As he did so, I heard her say, "Is Voldy still in the house?" Of course I was still in the house!! Remember being really stunned by that.

why do you think it wouldnt happen now?

Gosh, I was such a good girl when I babysat compared to you lot. I just used to sit at the kitchen table and do my GCSE homework.

Well I wouldn't have left my 9 mo with two 14 yo who I barely know...

I did an emergency daytime babysitting job through an agency...didn't meet the family until I arrived to have sole charge of the 3 kids, and mum was very intimidating.
She left me instructions and the last one was to make the whole family dinner for that evening.
I made a huge lasagne and then went off to collect the oldest from school forgetting is left it out on the side!when we got back half of it had been eaten by the cats I didn't know they had...I tidied it up into a smaller dish and left it in the fridge for them to eat when id gone

God Eurotrash was pretty full on I remember Lola with the enormous tits.

My confessions are tame in comparison to these!
I let my neighbour's boy eat all the sweets from his 'sweetie drawer' and he was hyper and in my face for hours after. He eventually agreed to go to bed but called me upstairs later to proudly show me a poo he had done in the middle of his bedroom floor. I just left it there for the parents to find. I was surprised to be asked back for more babysitting. Neither parents mentioned the poo.

I used to drink a can or 2 of lager from 14 and if babysitting overnight, let the kids get up by themselves in the morning. It was fine, as they were all at least 5 and their mother wouldn't get home until about 3 pm. I often had friends over too, but asked permission first.

I babysat for a few local families the worst we got up to was one night I invited a friend over and we nicked some of their Pimms. I doubt the parents minded though they were always on at us to take wine etc and had a cellar with wine in it. What was a real shocker was I was 14 or 15 the teenage DD (about 17/18) came back in a black mini skirt from a party and quite drunk and told me that she'd got pregnant recently but had a miscarriage - this girl went to one of the top London co-ed private schools. I was a bit as she told me not to tell her parents.

The other babysitting jobs I did I was really good. One family I did cheekily use their phone to call Talkabout (the chat service) for teens like a chat line. I think but can't remember that they either caught me on the phone or had been trying to get through and I think I was in a bit of trouble. They just didn't use me again. My reasoning was I was bored, they had a huge gated house and could afford it and I couldn't see what I was doing was wrong!

How funny that there's a thread on this - I was just thinking earlier today about how awful I was this!

When I was 15/16/17 I seemed to babysit quite a lot for various people. I can recall having boyfriends over to try to have The Sex which often failed (him having a bit of a flop at the pressure plus me not realizing my hymen was still in tact), loads of friends used to come over because it was effectively a "free house". One time, I even legged it to the shop about 5 doors down to buy some fags, leaving the front door open as I didn't have a key . It was fairly standard to rifle through kitchen cupboards and seek out porn/chocolate stashes!

We ask our parents to babysit when we go out, though tbh we could do with having a teenager on standby as the parents are getting older and do a lot for us in the week so we don't like asking too much. But then remembering back to how was makes me think no way!!

I was never asked to babysit, ever.

I once babysat with a friend for her twin brothers, I was 14, she was 11, they were 7.

The mum came stumbling in with her bloke at the time, absolutely rat-arsed with some random woman in tow.

A huge argument kicked off between them, and they all came stomping upstairs where us four, all crammed into bunk beds pretended to be asleep.

Anyway we could all see through the open bedroom door this strange woman being shoved down the stairs by the bloke, and another scrap kicking off! It was so full-on one of the little ones wet the bed

Me and my friend, being the unshockable rebels we were, opened the bedroom window and threw the woman's handbag out for her that she'd left in the bathroom shouting "here you go love!"

I only babysat once. I think I was too mean!

I was looking after 3 boys who were always absolute terrors - they were 4,6 and 8 and literally tore the house apart and injured each other constantly and their mother ( dad worked away ) moaned and whined and did nothing about it. I knew he family through friends so had experienced this lots of times.

When I was 14 I was asked to babysit and I did. The older two behaved unbelievably badly - smashing a vase deliberately, back chatting, torturing their brother- so I said if they didn't sit still and behave I would send them to bed (it was 530). The literally looked at me, went and got some cake their mum had left and tipped it onto the floor. I took each of their hands marched them upstairs and told them they were to stay there for the rest of the night. They argued and argued and argued and finally gave in when I threatened I'd leave them on their own in the house

I took the youngest downstairs and we had cake and watched a movie - he was amazed and sooooo well behaved and went to bed nicely at 8. When their mum came in at 11 she was all where are the boys and when I said bed she was horrified and she paid me and made me wait outside for my dad to pick me up!!!! The next day the boys told her their sob story and she said I was never allowed round to babysit again. I wasn't that gutted tbh.

I agree people used to far more lax about babysitting.

My personal worst was when I helped a friend babysit. The short story is, the child was awful so we decided to have 'a few drinks' to help us cope with him. His parents came home to find the babysitter being bathed by her slightly less pissed friend, who they'd never met, and put to bed. Luckily it was her house. I said she was ill

I never stole drinks or snooped or invited boyfriends around or anything like that. The most terrible thing I did was fall asleep on the big, squishy sofa holding a newborn baby, several times. :( Nothing happened, but when I had my own child, realised how dangerous it was and thought back to it I felt so guilty. I was 15 and there were 5 children, oldest was 9yrs and youngest was 2wks. I had been at school all day and then babysat from 5pm-3am so I was exhausted.

I was an angel compared to you lot! I once had my boyf around by prior arrangement, he popped over for an hr it turns out he worked with the dad and left!

The worst thing i did was have a cheeky fag on the back doorstep. The kids were lovely,one night however they wouldnt go to bed at 8pm so i told the parents. They were in bed by 7pm for months after that and never gave me a moments bother. I used to stay over and my dad would pick me up in the morning (family friends). I got paid a tenner which seemed loads at the time - mid 90s.

Now i have kids i would love a babysitter but shudder to think how much it would cost - also dont know any teenagers (new to area).

I was a pretty good babysitter but my friend was very naughty. I went on a babysitting job with her once and she rummaged through everything and finally found a photo album with graphic birth pictures of our charge being born She also woke the baby up so she could give him a cuddle and play with him. I was unimpressed and wouldn't go babysitting with her again after that.

She has two children of her own now!

I probably should have done a bit more to stop her, looking back. I think I was so shocked I didn't really know what to say.