The Babysitting Hall of Fame

With apologies to Carly Simon, I would definitely sit by the phone for Jesse. In fact I have. Many times. Just crossing my fingers he'd return my call and say he was available.

Jesse looked after my boys. For one whole summer, and then occasional evenings and after-school stints. To call him a babysitter is kind of like calling Roger Clemens a guy who plays catch. Jesse is the superstar of babysitters. The kind of guy you dream about when you have a crop of brawling, wriggling, snakes 'n' snails and puppy dog tails kind of offspring to keep busy. A fellow who's more fun than a giant ferris wheel in the dark, more engaging than pulling the wings off flies.

Was, I should say. Jesse was in university then, but now he's all grown up, goes to work Monday to Friday and even wears a suit. He dropped by the other day. Helped himself to some fruit, compared notes on the best Simpsons episodes, surveyed the recent home repairs. It reminded us all of the good old days, when morning didn't truly begin until you could hear the clomp of his big feet on the stairs as he hauled his bike onto the front porch.

In the dying days of summer, when patience and ideas tend to run short, allow me to fondly recall some of Jesse's legendary and no-cost activities:

• Word of the day: Every morning, each kid got a word. Either Jesse or the dictionary explained what it meant and then they had to practise using it a few times. By day's end, if they still remembered it, they won. No prize or anything. They just won. That was enough to keep them interested. This explains why the youngest, then 7, started using phrases like "I'm just being facetious" at the dinner table. Once, when this same child ran too close to home plate and the tip of the bat caught him in the cheek, the next morning's word of the day was hematoma. Don't they call that a teachable moment?
• Get to know your community: This includes the cemetery (on foot or bikes or scooters), the fire station, even the mother's workplace. But the undisputed favourite was the tour of the local police station, including the inside of prisoners' cells. Who knew you could actually do such a thing? Well Jesse did. He phoned in advance and set it up and the kids still talk about it.
• Celebrating the animal kingdom: Mostly, this involved weekly visits to Jesse's friend with the snake. Not sure what kind. But it was big. And hungry, with the kind of appetite that involved small rodents. I never wanted to know more than that. But little boys love this stuff. When the reptile was unavailable for viewings, they took the subway to the pet store to gaze longingly at the puppies and whistle at the birds and learn the difference between guppies and goldfish.
• Crunching numbers: One evening I arrived home post-bedtime to the sound of little voices upstairs. They sat cross-legged on their bedroom floor, eyes fixed on the mirrored closet doors, which Jesse had covered with math problems and upon which he was frantically scribbling down the answers they shouted out. Wish I could say I had thought of this clever way to employ Crayola window markers. Also wish I could say they still resist bedtime in favour of doing math.

It's sad Jesse has moved on. But his example lingers. Along with our hopes that his once-upon-a-time young charges will follow it.

Comments

[DaniGirl]

I'm not sure if I am coveting a Jesse for my boys, or if I have a crush on him...

[Sharon]

OH MY! I need a Jesse for my 5 year. I can't answer half his questions and apparently I have no imgination compared to him.

Can we clone him?

[Teresa Schaaf]

Great activities! These would be great ideas for homeschooling parents too!

[KDS]

Male babysitters are hard to come by... Especially ones as apparently engaging as Jesse seems to have been. I had my own stint as a young man babysitting for a couple different kids when I was in my mid teens, and I loved it, but most people were more willing to prefer my younger sister to me just because she was female and because THAT, in and of itself, defined her as more competent to take care of young kids. Still, I had many wonderful epiphany moments as a babysitter that will forever be mine... Moments which I got to have because some parents were willing to consider letting a young man babysit their kids. No one takes a babysitting job for the pay-- they do it because they enjoy it. I was one of those.

Example: want a fun distracting activity to show some young kids? Show them a siphon! Just some clear rubber tubing and a few cups and some water! They will never forget the word or the process. Here's to Jesse!