Tales of a Babysitting Nightmare

Not so long ago, I was sharing a babysitting horror story with a friend. It reminded me of many of the babysitting stories I acquired in the decade or so I spent babysitting to earn extra income through middle school and high school. There are many people I know who have pretty awful babysitting stories, but this one was definitely awful for me. It wasn't really scary like my friend who had a kid stick his foot in the garbage disposal and threaten to turn it on, but it was pretty awful nonetheless.

I was babysitting for a two little boys this particular day. One was about five and his little brother was about two. The older boy was pretty hyper and was a definite handful. I'm not sure why anymore but when I arrived the kids were watching a movie in their parents bedroom, so that is where we were hanging out. We were watching the movie Ice Age, and everything was going really smoothly. This was a rare occurrence when I was watching these darlings. Then the older boy asked me if he could read in his parents closet.

My fourteen or so year old self thought, "Well, he wants to read. That can't be a bad thing. So what if he's doing it in a closet? At least he's reading!" And so I told him he could. On the surface this didn't seem like a bad idea. After some time, I began to realize I should probably check on him. He'd been in the closet for what seemed like a while, and in my experience when loud kids get quiet for too long it usually means they are doing something they're not supposed to.

That's when I peeked into the closet. I saw him sitting with a flashlight snuggled into the corner of the closet. I then began to shut the door...when...wait. what. was. that? It couldn't be what I thought it was because it looked like a part of the female anatomy a little boy wouldn't be reading about. That sneak peek caused me to open the door to that closet again. When I finally did get a look at what he was reading I was shocked.

Sitting there in the closet, flashlight in hand, one leg folded on top of the other, the little five year old boy who I was supposed to be watching was sitting in his parent's bedroom closet reading Playboy.

I was mortified. I made the boy put it down and leave the closet and we played games the rest of the night. When his parents came home I couldn't bring myself to tell them what happened. I was so embarrassed and at 14 didn't exactly know how to broach the subject of a small boy finding a stash of Playboys. All I wanted to do was go home and never come back. I happened to be "busy" every time they called after that. I felt badly for taking the wimpy way out, but I just couldn't go back to that house.

It makes me laugh now. The fact that I caught a five year old looking at Playboy is really laughable. I've got many other random babysitting adventures, but that one certainly takes the cake. I hope it entertained you as much as it did me.