MovieChat Forums > The Baby-Sitters Club (1995) Discussion > Half the girls looked like they needed b...

Half the girls looked like they needed babysitters themselves.

posted 14 years ago by Glory678
15 replies | jump to latest

what parent trusts 11 and 12 year olds to babysit their children all summer? always wondered that.

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[–] scrufflove 14 years ago

I know! I read these books when I was six and seven, and remember thinking I couldn't wait to be thirteen because in my eyes it was the pinnacle of maturity, as I would then be able to baby-sit. Hahaha!
I would never leave an eleven/thirteen year old alone with my young children.

[–] kristyle 14 years ago

I used to babysit when I was their age- I was almost thirteen when I got my first babysitting job. I only babysat for two families that lived on my street, so the parents knew if I had any problem my own parents were just a few houses down the road.

[–] Danily 14 years ago

I was 10 when I got my first babysitting job...granted, I was the oldest of 5 kids and incredibly mature for my age, but leaving a 10-year-old to care for 3 kids under 5 was a bit much.

Most people, though, do start babysitting at 12-13, and the parents are fine.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] DrTerriGeniusMDPhDNobelPrize 12 years ago

I started babysitting when i was nine years old. maybe the parents thought since the kids were all together, they would be okay, like going to the park with a group of friends.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] PopSixSquish 10 years ago

I know, right? It always made more sense for me to think of them as being at least 15-16 or so, which is how they look to me on the covers anyway. Books, movies, and TV always want to make characters younger than they act/look/can believably be, given what they do in the stories.

"If you don't have anything nice to say...come sit by me!"

[–] gg82 10 years ago

Mallory, age 11, was a babysitter. Her brothers, age 10, required babysitters. Logic? If they needed a babysitter, then so did she.

I think 13 is old enough to babysit. I'd hire a mature 11 or 12 year old to babysit if they were just going to be at home for a couple of hours. I wouldn't hire an 11 year old to babysit a 10 year old. There's no way a kid would listen to a babysitter who is only 1 year older, or, depending on birthdays, might be in the same grade level.

[–] omgjayde 10 years ago

I remember taking a baby sitting certification class with the county when I was 9; we were CPR certified and everything, and I started baby sitting for 6 or 7 neighborhood families basically immediately. I had flyers and all that. Looking back, now that I'm almost 30 and have worked with kids, I am horrified that people left me alone with their newborns for hours at a time when I was a baby myself.

As a side note, I remember the summer this movie came out on VHS and I watched it every single day, thinking they were all so mature and cool looking. I was about what, 3rd grade, I think. So when I found this movie on netflix, I was stoked for the nostalgia, and man, this movie was nothing like I remember, and they look so so young. It is always fun to see how our perception changes as we age.