I must say that I don't miss teaching at all. I've been babysitting a 9-month-old one morning a week, and her 3-year-old brother for a 2nd morning weekly. Taken individually, they are delightful. Managing both at the same time is too much for me.
With baby girl, whom I met when she was 7 months old, I've been experimenting based on various infant development books I've read recently. She clearly understands everything I say, and even sings a little bit when I choose pitches that correspond to her cries. She now uses her hands and feet to tap in time to rhythms I sing.
My latest craze is something called RIE, or the annoyingly named Resources for Infant Educarers. The basic idea is that infants learn best when observed with careful, respectful attention. Less adult-infant interaction, more allowing the baby to play on her own in a safe environment. Similar to Montessori, but applied to infants.
With the 3-year-old, who is introverted, intelligent and creative, the challenge is helping him adjust to preschool. His peers are either girls who are willing to play with him, or boys who run and kick balls around incessantly. He wants to follow the boys, and watches them carefully, while rebuffing the girls' overtures.
After 2 play dates in the park with his preschool classmates (weekly, before the start of school) in which he refused to say hi, covering his face with his hands, I wasn't sure what to do. During the 3rd play in the park, one of the boys invited me to chase him. I decided to do so to see what he would think. As soon as I modeled how much fun it was to play tag, and suggested that it was similar to the way he runs away from bumble bees, he joined in happily.
I'm learning a lot from these two remarkable children, finding interesting things to read about their development, and gently toying with the idea of studying to become a postpartum doula. I suspect that my enjoyment of babysitting and infant care, however, is strongly tied to my friendship with the parents.
Since I have the unheardof luxury to stay home for a while yet, I've decided to be content with part-time babysitting. The family lives just 2 buildings away from me, so it couldn't be more convenient. Since he is going back to school this week, my hours will be probably reduced to 3 hours with baby every week. I'll give myself a couple of weeks before seeking another family.
I feel like I'm returning to that year after graduating from college, when I didn't know what to do for work. The first thing I did was go backpacking in Europe on a Eurail pass for 4 months. I then settled down in Freiburg Germany, supporting myself by cleaning houses, working in cafeterias, and teaching French. After a year, my savings ran out.
Returning from abroad, it was a rough transition being treated as a child in my parents' home, while looking for meaningful work. After a few months, I couldn't stand the uncertainty and the enormous parental pressure to "make something of myself."
I felt I couldn't live in limbo any longer. I needed a source of income and a place to live separately from my family. At this crucial moment, a former professor invited me to lunch and mentioned that I would receive a scholarship if I were interested in studying philosophy further. I jumped at the chance to move out, took the scholarship, and started a Masters program in January 1994.
Now that I have quit my tenured job, and have some savings for the moment, I feel that I'm back to that decision point in 1994, when I was 24. It's like having traveled back in time 20 years, but being able to remember everything I learned over those 2 decades. I hope I'll find meaningful work that sustains me spiritually and fosters my well-being. Babysitting is a good start.
