Remembering Our Babysitters

My Babysitters

Babysitters are an important but underappreciated part of our lives, particularly when they're your own babysitters.   In the mid- 1950s, 1956 or so, my parents had my sister and I watched by Tina and Stella Halderson, two old maid sisters who I can barely remember.  My parents - although they'd long since left Winona, Minnesota where the sisters lived - somehow kept in touch.   I apparently was a memorable kid and the sisters wanted to see me, so I dropped in on their little African-violet-filled house in 1973.

I remember them from the 1950s as being really big and old.  By the time 1973 arrived, they were considerably smaller and genuinely old.

Stella was the sister at least overtly in charge, charging more to babysit because she had graduated from high school.

Tina was the quiet sensible sister. 

It's hard for adults like me to determine what we learned from our babysitters - we were too young to bring back those memories reliably.   I do remember them fondly but can't tell you why.   I'm convinced that I learned important lessons from these two good people.