Why I babysit for free

Recently, I started babysitting my friends’ kids, for free.

I am single and have no children. I’ve always wanted to have kids, but haven’t seemed to meet the right man yet to be my partner and raise children together. And personally, I prefer that path then doing it on my own, which my own mom did. Being a single mother is amazing but very very hard and that’s just not my goal right now.

I was a stepmom for a while to a 3 year old who called my mommy. I loved him a lot. The relationship didn’t work out and I miss him.

When I moved back to my hometown to stay with my mom during COVID, to save money, work on growing my company, I had some extra time on my hands.

My mom said our old friends were busy and would love me to babysit. They have a five year old and a one year old.

In the past, I”ve offered to babysit friend’s kids for free, but people thought it was weird. No one really took me up on the offer.

These friends were happy to accept.

Every week or so, I go to their house, take their kids for a walk or play in the house. I always get lots of hugs and kisses. And they find my all my corny jokes absolutely hilarious.

It’s very fulfilling. I always learn to appreciate life more from the wonder and excitement children bring to the smallest things, like water rushing under a bridge (Wow!!) or a bus driving by (Roar!!).

When I run into the five year old on the street, she comes running to give me a hug. And I feel so loved and accepted!

When I get to hold the baby, he just melts into me, my heart melts into the world and everything just feels so perfect and good, the whole world and all of creation nuzzled into me. So warm, so yummy, so good.

And more than anything else, when I care for children, I feel that my life matters, that I’m doing something important for them and for the whole universe. There’s no more important job.

As much as I love their kids, I always leave feeling happy that I’m single after my babysitting stints. I appreciate that I don’t have to clean up, change diapers, can come and go as I please and can lie down and get a good night’s sleep.

I still want to have children, but it makes me feel better about the single life I have now to experience the pluses and minuses of being a parent first hand.

I also get to hang out more with the parents, who otherwise are a little too busy raising kids to socialize.

Other single friends of mine have expressed that they’d like to give free babysitting to their friends, but they don’t take them up on it.

In this era where childcare is so expensive and finding quality care is so hard, when extended family often lives so far away, if you’re single, consider