The Top 10 Tips on Hiring a Babysitter

1. Encourage your babysitter by keeping their favorite foods/snacks on hand.

Write a thank you card to your babysitters a couple of times a year. Experienced parents always say, "When you find a good babysitter - keep them happy!"

2. Hire a "mother's helper" to come in to your home to play with your child.

This extra help will enable you to get those unfinished chores done - while knowing that your child is happy. Since you are in the home it is possible to hire a younger, less expensive babysitter.

3. Consider letting a teenage babysitter watch your child in their home instead of in your home.

If an emergency occurs, there is a greater likelihood that the sitter will be able to get assistance from a family member or a next-door neighbor.

4. Learn to express your desires in the form of concrete requests, such as, "Could you put Emily on the potty for two minutes tonight?," if you use the same babysitter regularly.

Many parents develop resentment towards their babysitters and forget that a simple request might remedy the problem.

5. Leave the number for the poison control center by the phone, both upstairs and downstairs.

Show the babysitter where you keep the ipecac syrup in case vomiting needs to be induced.

6. Remind your babysitter that safety is your primary concern while the child is in their care.

Otherwise, you babysitter's focus may be scattered among their many responsibilities, and safety issues may not get enough attention.

7. Tell you babysitter that your child must be in view at all times.

It may be helpful to remind the babysitter of specific dangers, such as swallowing a popped balloon that the child is trying to blow up, chasing a ball into the street, etc.

8. Instruct babysitters to ignore the phone if the child is in the bath tub.

9. Take seriously any signs that your child has been molested, such as a child demonstrating sexual behavior in their play or a teror of a certain babysitter.

Child molesters come in every age, size, and gender. Young adolescents may have less of a handle on understanding the intensity of their sexual impulses than adults do, leading a young adolescent to feel tempted to explore their sexuality with your child.

10. Keep an open mind. Cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents who babysit have all been known to molest children.

Being a dear relative does not exempt someone from molesting a child.

About The Author

This piece was written by Dr. Clare Albright, Psychologist and Parenting Coach, author of "100 Tips for Parents of Two Year Olds", which can be downloaded for only $5.77 at http://www.ParentsOfTwoYearOlds.com

---

Teacher Tips: Your Room Set-Up and ADHD Students

Thank you to all of our professional educators who dedicate themselves to our children! We know how difficult it can be working with ADHD children, so here are your teacher tips for the... Read More

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: What is Impulsivity?

Impulsivity is one of the hallmarks of people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This impulsivity is the result of the brain's decreased ability to inhibit. There is a lack of self-control even at... Read More

MORAL ARMORS Irrational Parenting, Part III

Not Letting Them Think.We all implicitly know that anything questioning the process of cognition itself will be met with massive irritation, making us want to respond with "Don't question my capacity to think."... Read More

Car Wash Fundraiser Preparation

Are you considering a car wash fundraiser for your group? We all no it is getting harder and harder to raise the funds for non-profit groups these days. Especially kids groups such as... Read More

Strategies to Help Boost Your Childs Self Esteem

Self esteem in an important quality for all children to have. As parents, you can help to boost your child's self esteem by following the steps below:Model good self-esteem: Express through your actions... Read More

How Public Schools Lie to Parents and Betray Our Children

Under the "No Child Left Behind Act," public schools whose students consistently fail standardized tests can now be shut down. To protect their jobs, teachers and principals are now under intense pressure to... Read More

Is it Attention Deficit Disorder or is it Tourettes Syndrome?

During the assessment process it is of great importance for the physician or clinician to consider other possible causes of inattention, impulsivity, or hyperactivity in your child (or teen, or yourself). In fact,... Read More

From Good to GREAT: Secrets On Becoming A Better Dad

While most fathers aspire to become the best Dads they can, all too often life just seems to get in the way. Missed soccer games and bedtime stories, always "In a minute" or... Read More

Why First Borns Fuss, Seconds Are Resilient and Last Borns Like To Laugh

How can two or three children in the same family be so different? They are brought up in the same broad social environment, under a similar set of rules and an identical family... Read More

The Homeopathic Nutraceutical Attend as an Alternative to Ritalin

You no longer have to use Ritalin or other stimulants to treat ADHD. You no longer have to consider anti-depressants as the alternative to stimulants. There are other choices. Healthier choices. Eighteen months... Read More

How to Stop Divorce Parental Conflict from Bursting?

It is not the divorce but the conflict arising after divorce the culprit of most psychological-adjustment problems the children are having. So, how to stop the post-divorce parental conflict from bursting must be... Read More

How to Make Kids More Likeable?

Nothing touches the heartstrings of a parent more than the plaintive cry "nobody likes me" or "I don't have any friends." We wish there were something we could do to insure our child... Read More

The Recipe For The Making Of A Self-Assured Child: One Part Communication, Two Parts Love

Each child carries a unique picture of the self, shaped in part by the influence of parents. Your child is not born with a self-image or self-assurance. Both traits are learned through experiences... Read More

Parents Rights Violated By Public School Compulsory Attendence Laws

Compulsory attendance laws are school authorities' first assault on parental rights. These laws force almost forty-five million children to sit in often boring classes six to eight hours a day for twelve years.... Read More

The Child Chef

If you really want to get your children to eat better, and have a better understanding of healthy foods, let them help in the picking and cooking of those foods. When you go... Read More

The Old and the New

During one "generation gap" quarrel with his parents young Michael cried, "I want excitement, adventure, money, and beautiful women. I'll never find it here at home, so I'm leaving. Don't try and stop... Read More

Is Your Teen Swamped with Homework and Tests?

I hear from many parents that their child is stressed out with schoolwork, tests, finals, finding time to study, and extracurricular activities.I do not like seeing overstressed children and teenagers. Stress takes a... Read More

How To Live With Your Teenagers Untidy Room

'Whose room is it anyway?'If you have a teenager, you're no doubt familiar with the warcry of independence:'It's my room and I should be allowed to do as I please.'You hear the aggrieved... Read More

PG Rating Isnt What It Used To Be

If there are any parents reading this who are thinking of taking their under-10 year olds to see the PG rated Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, please read the following from a ... Read More

Life Lessons in a Glass of Beer

It was blisteringly hot last Saturday. As I took that first sip of a cold quality beer I knew it was sure to ease my thirst. However, I never expected that in that... Read More

The Theme from MASH - Suicide is Not Painless

The Theme from MASHI flipped the button on the remote control, pausing mindlessly at each channel to see the picture on the screen; I could not motivate myself to do anything else. I... Read More

The POWER of Reading

Reading to your child at a young age is one of the most effective tools for expanding his mind and instilling a lifelong love of learning. Reading a good book allows your child... Read More

Real Monsters Under Your Bed

There may really be a real monster under your kid???s bed!Seriously, they could actually be there!If you are a parent you have heard about monsters under the bed and in the closet. There... Read More

Develop Your Childs Genius: The King of Games - the Game of Kings

Many people still think that the game of chess is appropriate for old people. In their mind's eye, they see 2 elderly people sitting across from each other in the park, playing a... Read More

Got To, Get To ? Change The Way Your Family Thinks

I recently heard a story that has literally changed the way that I, and my family, think about life. The story is as follows:There was once a high-powered woman in her 30s who... Read More

Friendships - Helping Children Develop Friendship Skills

Reasearch into children's friendships shows that those children who are able to form friendships when they start school are happier at school and also learn better.More significantly, a positive beginning to friendships has... Read More

Develop Your Childs Critical Thinking Skills

1. Encourage Questions.Don't answer every question, instead ask what do they think. Asking questions stimulates conversation between you and your child.2. Don't Criticize.Criticism invites low self-esteem. Children feel that they have failed or... Read More

Its a Sick World

It's no joy to be sick. It's even less joy when your child is sick. But the most unjoy is when you AND your child are sick together.That happened to my poor wife... Read More

Parenting: 6 Observations on Fatherhood

Just the other day my oldest son asked:"Daddy, am I old enough to call you Dad?"Won't be long now before he is asking for the car keys.......Here are a few things I'm learning... Read More