Depending on how old your child is, you may introduce him or her to varied levels of activities. For example, toddlers can be taught games like peek-a-boo, patty cake etc. Children of this age love to make noises and you can ask the babysitter to encourage him or her to sing rhymes.
Similarly, infants may love playing with colorful objects. Older children, typically of the age group of six to eight may be introduced to drawing and craft skills. Make a list of all the activities that your child enjoys and let your sitter know about all of this.
Instruct her about the kind of activities that are suited for your child and also about the activities that a child should be kept away from. For example, she should not allow your three year old to paint using water colors because such colors can be toxic if consumed.
A point that attracts constant debates is whether you should allow your sitter to bring along her guests into your house. Different people may have different views regarding this issue. Some parents are open to the idea of same sex friends being invited to their place in their absence.
They claim that it makes the job of the sitter easy since more than one person can keep a watch on their child. However, the downside of such a setting is that the sitter may get too engrossed in talking to her friends any may start neglecting her responsibilities. Another downside is that you don’t usually know too much about the friend she may invite and it may not be easy to get all relevant information required for a background check.
You can ask your sitter whether she has a boyfriend or a lover. In event of an affirmative answer, you could ask her not to invite that person over to your house while she is babysitting.
Children are observant and learn a lot from their surroundings. You would not want your child to ask you awkward questions based on his observation of the sitter’s behavior towards her lover!
Additionally, the sitter’s lover is a stranger to your child and the perils of introducing your child to a stranger are many. You may be in a position to vouch for your sitter’s character, but the same cannot be said when it comes to her boyfriend or girlfriend!
Before making up your mind on whether to allow the sitter to call her friend’s over, do take some time to judge what sort of a person she is. If you are confident that she is a good person, then you may allow her some liberties. Moreover, you can also have a chat with a few of her friends to find out more about her conduct and tendencies.
