Tales from a Babysitter: Guilt Trip

Nothing will happen the way you want when babysitting. Kids will complain and give as many excuses as possible to get out of trouble. Sure, some kids listen and behave well but others do not.

So try not to get frustrated with them, just go with the flow and play the same game they’re trying to suck you into. Relax and realize that you are the bigger person and the one in charge. And they can’t take that away from you.

Once, a little boy wanted more cookies than what I could give him. So he “snuck” into the kitchen when I didn’t know he was going. He stole a few cookies from the cookie jar and came back to resume viewing of the movie we were watching. Of course, I knew what he had been up to but instead of scolding him, I pretended I didn’t know.

I said something like, “Max, you’ve been such a good kid tonight. Why don’t you have a few more cookies? I mean you haven’t lied or complained or disobeyed me at all! You’re such a good kid…”

I took the guilt trip and he fell for it. He gave in and told me of his evil schemes and how he stole cookies when he shouldn’t have. Because he did that, I let him eat them and the rest of the night went more smoothly. Even though some things happen that we don’t want to, we get to make the choices in how we deal with them.

Tags: duluth east, greyhound blogs