Tales of the Babysitter

Everything changes, thoughts of life coming begins to feel like a sucker punch to the stomach. I've gotten so close to one family and now they plan to leave. Three years of breaking the children in, three years of learning the routine; bedtimes, feeding times, play times, 'brush your teeth' times, and the, 'goodnight we'll play tomorrow' times, has become quite the bittersweet feeling.
Now I've got to say, I've been babysitting since I was 12, and by the time I hit 16, i said to myself I was never going to have kids. Way too much work for snotty spoiled children. Way too much to lose. You could really screw up a kid, and a kid isn't any toy you can just throw away for the night, because you want to go out...even if you haven't seen the kid for 3 days. Which specifically reminds me of a few families, and yes I know we all have our own dysfunctional families (especially my own), that are the parents who have kids for career moves or because all the other house wives are doing it. Or another family, who couldn't manage their 4 year old twins, so gave them everything they wanted, even if it didn't fit within their budget...but a crying kid (times two!!) is worse than stubbing your two, or missing the nail and hitting your hand, on purpose. Which then leads to a babysitter's nightmare: The Creepy Dad (aka Chester the Molester), Denis The Menace Twins (which made HIM look like an angel!), The Overprotective Mother (who happens to call every 20 minutes just to "check up"),
The Child Who Just Learned How to Lie (it becomes their favorite game after that), The Parents Who Underpay Even Though They Have the Money, And finally The Three's a Crowd So Let's Invite the All the Neighboorhood's Kids For the Night.

But I'm not here to complain, I'm here to look back fondly. Because now, the last and only family I babysit anymore, has decided to move. And they were great parents, with great kids. The one family who has redeemed my lost hopes for parenthood and children.
Maybe I will have kids someday.