A caution for babysitters not to collect more than just their paychecks…

The babysitting industry is full of college students. Simply because it’s an easy and quick way for students to earn money; it’s the preferred side hustle. Especially in New York City, us students need that extra cash to fund our weekend extravaganzas. Lots of Barnard girlies are babysitters—parents hire us because we are strong, independent women who are capable of taking care of their children… and that can be hard to find nowadays.

However, while there are oh so many pros of babysitting, there are also some cons. One of these cons being lice! Well yes, you read that correctly… lice. For some reason, lots of kids catch lice (perhaps they are rolling around in the dirt during recess? who knows). But because of that, their babysitters have the potential to catch them too. When talking to one of my friends, she said that she had to go to PCHS to get lice inspected, and when she went in, PCHS told her that a lot of Barnard students come in for lice inspection. And trust, it’s because they’re all babysitters. Just trying to get that extra dough for their bank account! Oh joy.

However, a good majority of these students who have to get inspected don’t actually have lice. But the thought of potentially having lice can wreak havoc for us Barnard girlies (and germaphobes). Once you find out a kid you babysit has lice, you immediately start feeling crawling and itching. Yet, c’est la vie of a babysitter. So, this is just my caution that if you are a Barnard babysitter… beware. Stay safe and lice free out there soldiers.

For your use, here are Chat GPT’s suggestions for how to avoid catching lice:

Header Illustration via Xuyin Zhong