A Letter To The Mothers of All Babysitters

Dear Fellow Mother,

I know that you fall into one of two categories at this very point in time. You are either a mother who calls on babysitters occasionally, or you are the mother of a young person who is already capable of babysitting others.

I am currently in the former group. As homeschooling parents, my husband and I choose to go out once a week on a date. We need the time to evaluate where we are at as a family, refresh our friendship, and make decisions that need to be made but that we have very little time or opportunity to discuss during the week.

As such, our four beloved descendants are in need of being cared for during those 3 or 4 hours each Thursday evening. We have been so very grateful to the girls and young women whom the Lord has placed in our lives and who we are able to bless financially by adopting their babysitting services.

However, there is a reason that I am writing to you, mom of either a present or future babysitter.

I would like to urge you to please explain to your young ones that:

Babysitting is not a job. It is a ministry.Tweet

This delicate position does not comprise of a set of 4 or 5 instructions to follow, and once the children are in bed, the unspoken expectation is not to put one’s feet up and relax, while the kitchen behind thee is teeming with dirty dinner dishes, unscrubbed pots, and crumbs that would give the Sahara sand grains a run for their money sprawled on the floor.

I implore you to instil it in your children, as I purpose to do in mine, that staying to take over the home while the paying parents are away is a holy calling. A privilege to undertake. It is during these hours that one must do as much, rather than as little as possible, to serve, sacrifice, and supply assistance to the mom and dad who work tirelessly to raise their family.

Analyse this with me.

If your child worked at an office as a secretary, and was told that she had to be responsible for sending faxes, making the boss a coffee twice daily, and filing the documents that were dealt with in the office each week. Now, say your daughter was an efficient worker, and completed these duties by 2:00pm. However, the office shut at 5:00pm. Would it be acceptable that she sit back in her chair and read her book for the remaining 3 hours of her work day. Of course not. As a paid worker, she would need to find other activities to do for the betterment and efficient running of the office.

How much more so should your capable child take a good look around when babysitting, observe what needs to be done in the home, and do it!

So, what should your child be telling you she did when she returns from lovingly ministering as a child carer for an evening? How about, “Mom, I played with the children, fed them, put them to bed, and did the dinner dishes. While I was putting some leftovers away, I noticed that the fridge needed a bit of a clean, so I spent the next hour cleaning it. I then swept the kitchen floor, folded some laundry that was lying on the couch, and had just enough time to clean the bathroom before the parents came in.”

Can you imagine the joy to parents, returning to a spic and span home and a pile of folded laundry. Further picture them opening their fridge for a drink, only to notice it sparkling and neat as a pin!

Dear mother, let us teach our children

to have eyes to notice where service is needed;

to develop a compassionate heart towards the weary;

and to be hard working in their service as unto the Lord.

With my love,
Tehila

Are you on board with me in training our children to view babysitting as a ministry? Share your thoughts with me…

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Photo credits: Great Beyond, Darwin Bell via photopin cc