Babysitting During Test Season: Supporting Student Sitters

Testing season in college, whether it is midterms or finals, is a stressful time for students. If your child’s babysitter is a student, they may be dealing with a lot of anxiety due to extra studying and projects. There are things you can do to support the student as they navigate this stressful time in the semester.

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Flexible schedule

Sometimes, exams fall outside of your student sitter’s regular class times, especially during finals. It is important that they let you know when their exams are so you can adjust their babysitting schedule accordingly. Be respectful and make adjustments in your schedule to help accommodate your sitter’s exams. These exams are crucial for the course grades, so it is essential that you allow them to take the tests so they can be successful in school.

Change responsibilities

Exam season can be really stressful for students, whether they have exams or projects. They have to prepare for the exams and do extra work to make sure projects get done. As such, you may opt to temporarily lessen the responsibilities they have to help you and your child. This will reduce their stress and will allow them to relax, knowing that you are willing to accommodate them when things are more stressful in their life. Be sure to check with them before adding responsibilities to ensure they can handle the extra work during this busy time in their semester.

Offer them time management advice

If you notice the student is having a tough time balancing everything they have going on, gently give them time management advice to help them get everything done without becoming overwhelmed. Bring up that they seem especially stressed during exam season and ask them if you can give them advice on managing their time. If they decline, respect the decision, as not everyone likes unsolicited advice. However, if they want the advice, draw from your own life experience and give them examples on how to make their life easier by learning how to juggle all of their responsibilities successfully.

Respect their professional boundaries

As a babysitter, there are certain responsibilities the student expects to do as a part of the job, but there are tasks that can be added that are beyond the scope of babysitting. You may also find yourself wanting to stay out later than you told your babysitter you would. These things are disrespectful at any time in a babysitter’s life, but they add even more stress during exam season, especially if they arranged their study schedule around their expected babysitting schedule and responsibilities. Be respectful of their time and boundaries by maintaining the agreed-upon responsibilities and schedule.

Plan ahead

At the beginning of the semester, check with your student sitter to see if they have an idea when their exams are. This information may be listed in their syllabus or somewhere else in the course information. Knowing the schedule ahead of time, if possible, can allow you to plan ahead and make adjustments to your routine in advance so you can make other arrangements if necessary.

Have a backup babysitting plan

Having a plan and making necessary adjustments ahead of time can help, but somethings things change on your sitter’s end without warning. While it is normal to want everything to go as planned and have your normal babysitter available to care for your child, they may encounter last-minute schedule changes and responsibilities that may interfere with their babysitting schedule. Be flexible and understanding, as they may not have anticipated the change in their exam schedule or responsibilities. Have a list of backup sitters that you can call in case your regular babysitter does not work out. Avoid holding this against your sitter.

Open communication

Communication at any time with your sitter is important, but it is crucial during exam season. They must keep you in the loop with changes to their schedule due to exams and other projects. It is also important that they know they can talk to you about any stress they may be dealing with when it comes to school. They need to be able to bring their concerns to you without feeling like you will get mad at them for needing to change their schedule or responsibilities temporarily if they are feeling stressed.

Show your appreciation

If your sitter is sticking with their babysitting responsibilities, despite the stress they are dealing with in terms of exams and projects, be sure to show how much you appreciate them. This can be a stressful balance for them to maintain, and it would be easy for them to take a break from babysitting to focus on getting through exam season. Be sure to let them know how much you appreciate them balancing the stress of their exams with their babysitting responsibilities. Even a small statement of gratitude can make their day.

Supporting your student sitter during test season can help them remain positive and manage the stress of balancing responsibilities without becoming too overwhelmed.