Babysitting is to watch one or more kids, generally from the same family, during their parents' absence.

Usually, people entrust their children to the care of adolescents, who get there their first job, around 16. It gives them the opportunity to win little money during evenings or weekends. This job is most often done by girls. There are several reasons to that: first of all, parents entrust more gladly someone who is of female gender, god knows why... Then, young girls are often more responsible and mature than boys during adolescence, so they take more easily this opportunity to win some money (proof of their independence), when boys still content themselves with their parents' money when they want to go to Mc Donald's. There might also be the “maternal fiber”, that is to say that girls fall more easily in wonder for a baby or a toddler, than boys do. For these 3 main reasons, babysitters are more generally girls.

However, what is exactly to babysit? Well, it is basically doing what parents would do with their kids if they were here: picking them up after school, giving them a snack, helping with their homework if needed, making them take a bath, preparing something for dinner, reading them a story, playing with them and putting them to bed. If by any chance, you were to stay late after they went to bed, it's up to you to do anything you want to while the kids are sleeping nicely. You may watch TV, DVDs, make yourself a great dinner... The most serious of you would make their homework, whereas the less serious would invite their boyfriend over...