10 Things Babysitters Often Leave Behind When They Go Home

When babysitters are brought home after an evening of watching your kids, it isn’t unusual for them to leave something behind, especially if it is late at night, and they are sleepy. You may want to get into the habit of double-checking for these items before the babysitter walks out the door.

1. Purse – If they brought a purse and didn’t leave it sitting out in plain sight, they may forget to take it with them when they leave. They’re bound to miss it at some point the next day.
2. Cell phone – If they leave their phone behind, they’ll be panicking as soon as they realize it. That is their lifeline. If they discover this while you are driving them home, plan on turning around and retrieving it for them.
3. Homework – If they brought homework with them to do, they may have set it aside, when it was done, and forgot to pick it up when they were leaving. Check for those notebooks and textbooks setting out, that you know don’t belong to your children.
4. Reading material – This one is real common. They bring a book along to read and set it down during the evening, or as they put on their jacket, and leave the book behind.
5. Jacket – When the weather isn’t terribly cold, it is easy to come into a home wearing a jacket and leave without it. A simple question about whether there is a jacket to wear, could jog their memory.
6. Hat – This an even easier piece of outer wear to leave behind. Hats can easily disappear from view and the babysitter may not remember for certain whether they were wearing a hat or not when they arrived.
7. Nintendo – If they’re a gamer, they may have brought their Nintendo DS instead of a book to read. They generally keep a pretty tight hold of these gadgets, but just like the cell phone, it can be easily set down for a moment and left behind.
8. Ipod – Some of these devices are so small, it is amazing that they aren’t lost more often. They can easily be overlooked when the babysitter is preparing to leave, if they set it down somewhere in the house during the evening.
9. Germs – Unfortunately, if they leave their germs behind, you’re not likely to discover this until a day or two down the line, when the kids start showing the symptoms of the virus that was delivered unintentionally.
10. Sleeping kids – If all went well, your babysitter will leave behind exactly what you were hoping for, sleeping children. This is not always the case, of course. Some children have difficulty going to sleep under a babysitters care. If there isn’t any problem with your babysitter getting the children to bed and to sleep, you’ve found a great babysitter.

Babysitters, especially in the early teen years, can be forgetful of items at times, just like we all are. One final look around the home before they leave for the night can help prevent the ‘Left Behind’ syndrome.

Taken From Babysitting Jobs