My sister Susan and I were in demand as babysitters when we were young teens. Having many younger siblings made us popular choices to care for other people’s children. Of course, we were well paid—a whole 50 cents per hour for taking care of as many as 4 young children at a time. (Sort of similar to what I earned as a teacher!)
One summer, I came up with a brilliant idea which I proposed to my sister. Why don’t we run a “Summer Day Camp” for the kids in the neighborhood, I asked. We could take the kids to a local park for 3 hours every weekday morning for the bargain basement price of $5 per week for each child. To make it more attractive, we even had a “family rate” of $10 for 2 or more children. We could provide activities, storytime, and snacks that our parents generously purchased.
I remember when we first went to pitch the idea to one of our neighbors who was also a babysitting client. Mrs. Fallon sat on her porch steps with her mouth agape. We thought she wasn’t interested and sheepishly backed away while saying something to the effect of “Never mind.” Calling us back, she immediately enrolled her 3 preschool-aged kids. While she ran into her house to get the money to pay us, we hugged each other excitedly. Wow! Our first client! Amazing. Soon we realized that our idea was the answer to a young mother’s dream—someone to give her a few hours of free time every morning–cheaply.
The summer camp went well and I remember the kids being pretty easy to handle. Our mornings sped by and our loot started to add up. Like many kids who didn’t have much money, we counted the bills excitedly. We wanted to do something really special with our riches, so decided to ride the bus downtown and splurge on a movie at one of the “fancy” theaters. The excitement of having all that money to spend on an afternoon out was heady–so we bought everything our hearts desired—popcorn, candy, and Cokes.
Even though the price we charged was modest, we accumulated more money than we ever thought we would—or could earn babysitting in a week. So we went on a lot of movie dates that first summer and enjoyed our hard earned wealth!
We ran the day camp for a few years and then decided to stop doing it. It was a sad day on Parkview Avenue when the Moms realized that the Joyce Sisters Summer Day Camp was no more.
Kathy,
Loved this story about your and your sister’s resourcefulness. Loved the reference to your wages being compare to your teacher’s salary. I can relate to that as can my daughter who teaches in FL.
You obviously were a born teacher with your skills at handling children and giving them fun learning experiences.
How enterprising of you both. Since we lived in the country, we ran wild in the pasture and the woods. Must surely have been a relief for Mom to have us out from underfoot. On the other hand, it was hard to round up the 6 of us when she wanted us to do chores.
Your summer camp/babysitting event was a win-win for all! It was fun and financially productive for you and your sisters, plus it gabe you great responsibility and helped you feel that you accomplished something successfully. And for the moms, it was a godsend. And the the kids – they probably had a blast, What a clever and great idea the Joyce sisters had!
Young entrepreneurs! That was quite an undertaking and you did it for three years. So impressive. No wonder you and Susan were such successful professionals.