The Best After School Babysitter

When I was young, my mother had an after school babysitter come and look after me. Because I was an only child, she made sure that only someone I approved and got along with would get the job. After many interviews in which I asked questions like, "What is your favorite ice cream flavor?" and "How do you feel about the current president?" (I was a precocious child) I was able to find the perfect after school babysitter.

Her name was Wendy and she was in her early twenties. From what I remember about her physically, she had wavy brown hair, liked to wear a dove pendant necklace and had a penchant for light colored dresses. Her voice was soft enough as to not sound harsh and loud enough to tell me when I needed to get in line. When she had to be stern with me, she was never too strict or austere as a babysitter. She simply goaded me into doing the right thing and taught me when I was wrong. If I had done something commendable, she would give me positive reinforcement with small rewards. For example, once when I had gotten straight A's on my report card I remember her taking me to my favorite Japanese garden to feed the fish at the Koi fish pond.

I think if I didn't have Wendy as my after school babysitter, I wouldn't have been exposed to the many wonderful things that I was. She was the one who introduced me to the great music of Nat King Cole when she played it on the family record player and she was the one who opened me up to the world of poetry by Walt Whitman (of course, back then, I didn't really get the mature implications). She had great babysitting ideas, and I will forever remember Wendy as my favorite sitter and one of my all-time favorite people.