Ah, the way life use to be.
(gab.com)
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My first job at 12 years old (1963) was babysitting for 6 children...the youngest a baby...for $.25/hour...and I even did the dishes and straightened the house...but for the quarter I could buy a nickel cherry coke at the soda fountain, a 5 cent candy bar, a $.07 scoop of ice cream and 8 cents worth of penny candy...quite a haul in those days...
My first non babysitting job was when I was 12. I lied about my age (I guess it was easier in 1979) and did filing and vacuuming at a Rent-a-Center. Even at 12 I had sense enough to know that if I wanted something, I damn sure couldn't burden my single working mom for it, I had to work for it.
I began distributing ads in mailboxes all around the area at 12, then I babysitted a little on Friday nights (which allowed me to view the late cine club show which let me discover the Marx Brothers, Harold Lloyd, and others stupendous oldies young French scholars could never know about. I also experimented working on markets, leading younger kids in camp, also cooking for them. I had less money than most boys my age I knew, but it was mine, not something my parents would give me to rid of me.🤓
The satisfaction of earning your own money! I baby sat, delivered newspapers, and did my brothers choirs for them. That's why we are different, we can think, earn and learn for ourselves.
I think what made me the happiest was to feel useful and trusted. I was the last of 5 living kids (the 3rd before me died a few hours after being born) and always felt alone and neglected.
Sounds like your family went through some hard times. You were trying to find your place within the family unit while trying to make yourself stand out and be useful. Our xperiences made us who we are. I'm happy with me and wouldn't have changed anything, hopefully you are too.
Had a similar babysitting job in the same time frame. Five children, including a baby. I watched them from 9am to 5pm, nearly every week day in summer. The kids were great. In my early twenties, the family would still ask me to babysit on weekends occasionally. A lot of responsibility at a young age, but great experience in real life.
That was when neighbors knew neighbors and it was all really extended family. We were so responsible, independent and everything we did prepared us for real life...I had a crappy home life but I had a fantastic community, church, neighborhood, school, etc that allowed me to really enjoy my childhood...I grew up in the 50's and graduated HS in '69 and I could not have imagined a better life...so much has changed...it takes a lot of effort to maintain any normalcy for our kids and grandkids...