Chickens in the Road Forum

Had company over last night, and us women took to commandeering a corner of the living room, and this conversation arose (among many others).

For me it was babysitting, and being a mother’s helper. Babysitting rate when I babysat (back in the day – the 1970’s) was a whopping .25¢ an hour when I started, and later (my high-school years) I was making .50¢ an hour. Did a lot of evening babysitting, and it didn’t matter how many kids I was saddled with, I got the same .25¢ to .50¢ an hour.

Things I remember from my babysitting days… old-fashioned glass bottles, which I warmed by suspending in a pot of water on the stove, making homemade baby food and formula, folding and changing cloth diapers, and yes, the ones with the safety pins and rubber pants, spanking, and those old squeaky, drop-side baby cribs where the railings could be raised and lowered.

What was your first job, and how much did you get paid?