I Am A Teen And Still Have A Babysitter

I lived at home until my early 20s. By the time I was 18 I didn't have daily babysitters (that would have been pathetic) . Then one day when I was 19 my mom called me over to the dining room table. She was sitting with some lady I never met before. My mom told her "I wanted you to meet my kid". She then told me she was going out of town next weekend and this was my babysitter. Babysitter??? You have got to be kidding me, I'm 19 years old". I didn't say this but it was what I was thinking. What made things all the more embarrassing is this lady (who my mom worked with during the week) wasn't all that much older than me, she looked to be in her 20s.

I couldn't believe this was going to happen but it sure did. She didn't interact with me much which was a relief. She mostly watched TV and talked on the phone. My mom gave her a list of chores for me to do. She would periodically snap out an order "Ok it's time to clean your room" etc.

The most embarrassing thing to me was my bedtime. Yes I still had a bedtime. The first night she said "Ok it's your bedtime" (it was 10pm IIRC). I decided to challenge her and asked if I could watch the rest of the TV show. She gave me a bitchy look and firmly said "NO". As I walked upstairs I regretted that I even asked. It made the whole situation all the more embarrassing. The next night when she ordered me to bed I marched upstairs with no incident.

My mom arrived home Sunday night. She soon ordered me to bed. The babysitter hung out for awhile. I could hear my mom and her talking downstairs. It struck me how this girl had a personality...she was talking and laughing a lot. She was so quiet and aloof with me....just taking care of business. Perhaps she wasn't friendly towards me because she knew it was pathetic for a young man like myself to have a babysitter?

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Immia · F

I hate to be home alone so I always have someone over if necessary. But that's not a babysitter. I call it company.
It's creepy to lay in the bed and hear scary sounds from downstairs. When someone's over its familiar sounds I hear. Tv coffee machine and use of the bathroom.

Strictmother · 46-50, F

@Immia Call it what you want.

Immia · F

@Strictmother It's really not a babysitter. It's not like she snuggles me or make me brush my teeth.
Usually I'm in bed before she comes over.
Anyway I'm too old to have a babysitter.

Strictmother · 46-50, F

@Immia Not really you aren't. so your mother has you in bed already what is your bedtime, 7:00 p.m.?

Immia · F

@Strictmother 7pm-ish. Sometimes it can be a quarter past. But only if I'm ready for bed at 7.

Strictmother · 46-50, F

@Immia 7ish should be 7 on the dot,

Immia · F

@Strictmother just five minutes. That wouldn't hurt

Cleancut · 56-60, M

@Immia I agree. It was comforting to have someone over. Yet for me there was no denying that it was a babysitter. She was getting paid to be there and she was there to watch over me and enforce the rules/restrict my freedom. It wasn't like having a friend over hanging out.

Immia · F

@Cleancut Mostly it's one of my parents friends and we don't hang around. I'm in bed.
They're not paid except if it's a day of one of them.
I'm 19! I don't have a babysitter.

Cleancut · 56-60, M

@Immia with all due respect I think you are in denial over this.

Strictmother · 46-50, F

Pathetic? Yes? Needed/ Probably. Your mother should have made your bedtime a bit earlier @Immia @Cleancut

Strictmother · 46-50, F

@Immia You obviously DO need a babysitter

Strictmother · 46-50, F

@Cleancut I agree

Immia · F

@Strictmother She tal about an earlier bedtime but she's not serious I guess.

Immia · F

@Cleancut I'm not in denial. I talked with my mom about it and she said it is for my own good. But she agreed that it is babysitting.
She don't want me to get out of bed while she's no at home. There is too much in the TV I shouldn't see. Also she told me dad set up a parent control on the computers. Fortunately not on my phone.
I didn't know all that and I makes me feel sad that they don't trust me. But it's nice to know they protect me.

Strictmother · 46-50, F

@Immia Maybe 7:00 p.m.

Immia · F

@Strictmother Mom says I can stay up until 7 if I behave and eat my food

Strictmother · 46-50, F

@Immia So if not, she make is earlier?

Immia · F

@Strictmother I hope not cuz I like to play a little before I go to bed.

Cleancut · 56-60, M

@Immia Sounds familiar. Bedtime was extremely important to my mother. By the time I was a young adult there was an added reason my mom insisted on a bedtime. She didn't want me going out to any bars or nightclubs. You sound like you don't have it in you to go out clubbing. But I did sneak out a couple of times and my mom was really angry about it. As long as I lived under her roof I had to obey her rules which included bedtime. In fact that was her #1 reason for still leaving me with babysitters at such an old age (or what seemed old to me at the time).

I had such mixed and intense emotions about having a bedtime in my late teens, especially with a babysitter telling me to go to bed when I was a legal adult. It hurt my pride! Especially when the babysitter told me it's my bedtime and I sheepishly marched up to my bedroom. Yet at the same time I DID feel a sense of comfort knowing someone was there in the house watching over me. Not just a person but an authority figure I had to obey. That was definitely my comfort zone as much as I resented it at times.