Baby sitters expected to do more, know more than in past StarNewsOnline.com
“I had to baby-sit five boys under the age of 10 and I got paid $1 an hour,” said Sutton, who was 12 years old at the time. “I learned then that I had to learn what I was capable of taking care of.”
Now 46 and the mother of three children, Sutton teaches a baby-sitting class for the Cape Fear Chapter of the American Red Cross. Typically, 12 students – ages 11 to 15 – take the class, but some students have been as young as 9 and as old as 18, Sutton said.
The responsibilities baby sitters face are greater than they were when Sutton started caring for children, she said. Back then, “you kind of just flew by the seat of your pants as a baby sitter.” These days many parents want the person caring for their children to know more and do more.
“There’s a lot expected of baby sitters in terms of carpooling, helping with homework, cooking dinner,” said Amanda Bordeaux, who runs Sitter Connection, a baby sitter referral service for families in Wilmington, Raleigh and Wake County. “It’s a fun job but it’s not an easy job.”