[speaker001:] okay okay now when you babysit what age group children do you sit with
[speaker002:] well gosh all kinds um mostly between the ages of two and ten um last like a few summers ago I kept two children every day for the entire summer and I mean they became like my children
[speaker001:] uh-huh I'd think so
[speaker002:] and um and they live in an apartment complex so we swam a lot and we played on the playground a lot and we would go to a movie on Thursdays and um there was always an activity you know they had their favorite TV shows and things like that that we watched and then we took naps and um I don't know it it just seems like there was always something to do children are so full of energy
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and oh they were they just they they just keep you going
[speaker001:] now was this a one parent or two parent family
[speaker002:] uh one parent
[speaker001:] one parent how much time did she spend with them
[speaker002:] yeah she's just not much at all I mean I would get there at eight o'clock in the morning the children usually weren't awake by then and she would get home at like five thirty in the afternoon
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and they would have dinner and then it was time for them to go to bed
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] um now at this particular time the children were two and six but then I also I've been babysitting this child uh for about eight years he's nine now and um you know I've watched him grow up and he's like a little brother to me
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and it's changed over the over the years um we get along a lot better now that he's older and uh we do different things now we used to play ball a lot but now it's he likes to watch TV and he's into wrestling and um I kept him on Friday night we went see we went to go see a movie and um things like that but I feel like I don't know when I have children I want to be able to spend a lot of time with them
[speaker001:] do you now you say your you go to school
[speaker002:] uh-huh I go to LSU
[speaker001:] and what are you studying
[speaker002:] uh communications
[speaker001:] well sounds like your getting a lot of experience in communicating with children
[speaker002:] oh yeah I mean I love children um I don't know seem when I was growing up my Mom stayed at home with me and my brother until we were in junior high and I don't it would I think it was very beneficial to us I mean like in the summer we were always in the library programs reading books and we went skating a lot and
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] you know she was just always there for us but nowadays if there are two parents to a family the mother works just as hard as the father does and the children either stay at home and get into trouble or they're stuck in a day care and I just I just don't want my children to have to be raised like that all my friends they their parents worked all the time they got to stay at home by themselves and when I was younger I thought they were lucky because they got to get away with things like I couldn't ride my bike across the street but they could because they're Mom would never know it but now I realize that it was better because
[speaker001:] uh-huh yeah
[speaker002:] um they have got into a lot of trouble
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] because of lack of supervision
[speaker001:] well that that certainly can happen now if you you say you're in communications uh what base of communications would you be most interested in getting in to
[speaker002:] uh-huh well I'm majoring in uh public relations
[speaker001:] public relations so so you would have a job with a company
[speaker002:] yeah yes ma'am
[speaker001:] rather than uh radio or television or newspapers or what have you
[speaker002:] right uh-huh
[speaker001:] and uh then you'd be willing to give up your job to stay home and with or stay with the children
[speaker002:] well I would like to uh stay at home with my children for at least the first five years
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] but what what I plan to do in the future is um go ahead and get my upper education as far as my masters and work on my doctorate and teach um college
[speaker001:] uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker002:] and in that case then I'll be I'll be at home when my children are at home but I'd like to stay at home with them until they get in at least into kindergarten
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] where they're at school from what eight to three or something and then I would be at my school teaching
[speaker001:] uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker002:] and um
[speaker001:] well that that's uh is an advantage of being in the education field I spent thirty four years in education
[speaker002:] oh really
[speaker001:] yes and so oh I started out with college and then went to high school and then I preferred the high school age level much better than I did the college because you have a closer relationship with the uh students
[speaker002:] what grade oh did you what did you teach
[speaker001:] that I taught physical education
[speaker002:] oh oh I started out as a PE major
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] in education I wanted to be a PE teacher I sure did
[speaker001:] well I uh I found that uh it was a perfect combination from the standpoint of having vacations off at the same time
[speaker002:] oh yeah
[speaker001:] and uh and it worked out fine from that standpoint uh plus the fact that uh when I left uh usually uh my husband was seldom home for maybe forty five minutes or so and then our son he had to get on the bus and he did get on the bus it was his responsibility and he never ever thought
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] of uh not going to school he said in view of the fact that he was certain I had a hot line to his school because uh I uh well I I was in physical education then and I just kept getting pushed into administration wound up in administration
[speaker002:] absolutely oh
[speaker001:] and so he thought surely that I or I would have bought a hot line to know if he ever skipped school which of course was not the case and I wouldn't have checked on him however uh there are there are points both directions in that uh from the standpoint of parents working and not working
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] uh I listened to more than one parent say I don't know what this child wants I'm working two jobs they each have their own television they each have their own telephone they each have their own rooms they each have this they each have that I'd say but what they don't have is you
[speaker002:] that's right they need some attention
[speaker001:] absolutely and uh acting out because that is the way of getting attention
[speaker002:] well see whenever my Mom stayed home with us we did without a lot I mean we were it's hard to make it on one income but we did and and we lived in a trailer for eighteen years and um
[speaker001:] that's right huh
[speaker002:] you know we we only had one car we only had one telephone you know we didn't get to eat out all the time but I I feel like that it helped me now because I appreciate the value of the dollar
[speaker001:] uh-huh right
[speaker002:] and um I also had the supervision that I needed while I was growing up and I hope that I can provide that for my child too
[speaker001:] and we certainly uh we need more of that we need more parents willing to supervise though we've had such a breakdown in the family structure from the standpoint of of uh church and school and everything along the way
[speaker002:] oh we have
[speaker001:] and that I think has contributed much to uh the delinquency that works grant and the poor school results that we're having uh that the students uh parents have just not really taken enough interest in them from the very very beginning and I think my feeling was that the very best teachers should be in grades one two and three to get the students off to a good start let them have positive um uh experiences from the lower levels so they want to continue learning and uh keep going and not wait until they're they're in the ninth and tenth grades it's too late then you cannot reverse that trend at that point
[speaker002:] uh-huh it is it's way too late I agree
[speaker001:] right and uh while parents very often will be involved with the school activities when the child's in the elementary school and they get into the high schools so often they seem to drop away at that point and that is just as valuable
[speaker002:] it is
[speaker001:] at that time as to the rush in the elementary yes right
[speaker002:] because all the peer pressure it starts in high school and the parent really needs to be there for the child
[speaker001:] right and uh the child needs to take pride in the fact that their parent is doing something uh we were fortunate in view of the fact that my son did play football and I did keep statistics for his team and his Dad did take movies of the football
[speaker002:] oh great
[speaker001:] team and movies of the basketball team and we tried to be a part of it but not overshadowing him or making him feel that we had to be there all the time
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] so what I feel that I learned a great deal from my students uh with regard to what their biggest complaints were with parents and a thing such as uh one of the biggest complaints I well remember because I spent a lot of time with seniors uh was um caring their parents say when I was your age I didn't have this or that and I know I never ever said that because I knew that that was one thing that was really irritating to young people
[speaker002:] uh-huh well I guess that was good that you were you were hearing it from other students
[speaker001:] yes and I had to deal with their problems and I could talk about the kinds of problems which they were bringing that they had just in general aspect and our son would share this and then he would have to make decisions for himself along those same types of of uh lines
[speaker002:] well um
[speaker001:] so that I think he benefited from my experiences
[speaker002:] does your son work for TI
[speaker001:] no
[speaker002:] oh
[speaker001:] no he uh works uh for a different company yeah in the Dallas area but when he went away to college and he was on an allowance from the time he was in the seventh grade and uh a small allowance and all the way through college and he held three jobs while he was in college and we didn't even know it he didn't even tell us uh that he had three jobs but when he graduated he had a five thousand dollar bank account
[speaker002:] oh goodness
[speaker001:] and uh we had told him that if he ever wanted to go to college he could go if he got married he was on his own if he flunked out he was on his own