We had two babysitters that we loved. One was our Aunt Debbie and the other was Sister Mary Imelda, from our grammar school. Let's start first with our aunt. She was only 8 years older than me and 6 years older than my brother, so we got along great! Debbie would arrive via a ride from my dad, and as soon as our parents left we would begin planning our "pig out" time, as we called it. My mom always kept great snacks in the house, such as, Suzy Q's, King Dons, Charles Chips cookies, and Danish Go-Rounds. So with mom and dad gone, we would make the most of our unsupervised snacking time. Once, when our parents were out dancing, Debbie, my brother, and I decided it would be a great idea to make popcorn to go along with our TV watching, which would start with the ever popular Planet of the Apes. Seems easy enough, right? Well, we got the popcorn maker out and placed it on the stove. We added the oil and the popcorn kernels and Debbie proceeded to turn the burner on underneath it. We then waited with great anticipation for our freshly popped corn! It didn't take long, however, for us to wonder where the "burning" smell was coming from. We soon realized that the popcorn popper was melting! As it turns out, it was electric and should have been plugged into the outlet. Oops! Boy, did we get in trouble for that one! But actually, I imagine my parents probably secretly laughed about it, later. We had such wonderful times back then with our aunt. She was always ready to watch TV or play games with us. We would play charades, board games, or cards. It was innocent and wholesome fun. It was like having our friend over and not the "babysitter".
The other beloved babysitter was Sister Mary Imelda. She was a nun and the librarian at our grammar school. She was very soft spoken and one of the nicest ladies you could ever wish to meet. I will never forget the first time she came to the house. Our mom explained that she would be babysitting us this particular night and we were very excited. We just knew that we had to be the only kids to have a nun from school babysit them. I remember telling my friends who lived across the street and also two houses down, that she'd be our babysitter that night. They didn't believe me. So, late that night there was a knock at the door. It was Billy, Clem, and Eddie, with football in hand. When Sister Imelda opened the door, the look on their faces was almost that of terror! I remember standing in the door with her and saying to them, "told ya". This lady had such a sweet and lovely spirit. She did whatever we asked her to do. She would watch TV with us and she also played games with us, such as Monopoly, Sorry, and Risk. Who remembers Risk? That had to be one of the most complicated and difficult games to understand, and to boot, it was a game that lasted forever once you started to play it. Even longer than Monopoly! I remember my brother wanted to play but we couldn't figure it out. So she went over the directions until the three of us understood it and we played for what seemed like hours. Finally, we got too tired and had to go to bed. Sister would tuck us in and kiss us goodnight. She was a gem. We were fortunate to have her stay with us on several occasions.
Now, we only had one babysitter who we didn't like. She was a cousin of ours. An older teenager who we didn't know very well to begin with. The few times she sat with us, all she did was fuss at us and never wanted to do anything. I can remember my brother and I getting fed up, even as kids, and just going to our rooms and staying there all night. I had one of those giant sized Batman comic books that I read and plenty of Olivia Newton-John records to keep me occupied. My brother was a bookworm, so he could read about the Crusades and WW2 all night and be happy. The morning after this particular night, when we woke up our mom told us that after we had gone to sleep, our cousin heard a noise and was sure that someone was outside. She was terrified, being all alone. They came home to her crying. I remember thinking, hmmm, maybe she should have been nice to us. I don't wish that on anyone, being afraid like that, but she really didn't need to be so grouchy. It's a good thing the movie, When a Stranger Calls, hadn't come out yet!
We really had a wonderful time with our babysitters. But that was a time when we had only 5 TV channels, all the programming was really good stuff, and we used our minds and imaginations to have fun. When the most exciting part of the night was "pig out" time, you know you were living in a wonderful era. 1970's, you are missed.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 ..in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
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