My friend's teen babysat for me - her one act means I'll never allow it again

"It was unforgivable. There's no going back after that," the Sydney mum tells Kidspot.

When your days of needing a babysitter to simply go out for a couple of hours are over, that's when you realise just how much of a pain it was.

From paying a bajillion dollars to 'not being allowed out' until the sitter is confirmed... nothing feels as good as a kid who's just turned 13 and no longer needs close supervision!

But before you even contemplate leaving your house, you have to find someone you can trust in your home, and with your child.

And even then - you can be proven wrong about them; which is exactly what happened when I hired my friend's teen daughter to look after my eight-year-old son.

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"The sitter had other ideas"

It all started out well enough: my son had a friend in his class at school, and one day, his mum Kate and I were talking. They were a lovely family who lived not far from us. Kate was telling me that her daughter was looking for babysitting work after her job at McDonald's became too much on top of studying.

Sophie was 16, smart, responsible, and I'd seen her interactions with her brother over the years; so I felt confident things would go swimmingly if I hired her on the nights both my husband and I had something on.

My son knew Sophie, so that was also a bonus.

Everyone seemed happy with the arrangement. Well, that was before the night ended.

As agreed, I was out for three hours. I had specifically told Sophie that I didn't care if my son fell asleep or not because it wasn't a school night.

But... she had other ideas.

An imaging of the text the teen sent to her mum.

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"How dare she?"

When I came home, my kid was in his bed and not asleep. I didn't think twice about it until after I paid Sophie and she left.

Then he came out to tell me that Sophie had made him go to bed as soon as I left. The rest of the time was her telling him not to come out of his bedroom, that he was "driving me crazy"... while she was texting on the sofa.

She even warned him that she would call her mother over.

Next thing my son knew, there was a knock at the door: it was my friend, Kate, Sophie's mum.

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Kate came in, and sat with my kid until he pretended to fall asleep.

I was absolutely furious to hear this. Not only had I said the going to sleep thing wasn't an issue, Sophie didn't entertain him or look after him in any way - she sent him straight to bed. And I'd paid her $50.

But that wasn't the thing I was angriest about.

I couldn't believe the teen had called her mother to come over to do her job. Part of me was mortified with the implication that my son was an issue.

And that my kid's school friend, Sophie's brother, would probably be made aware of what happened.

And yes, I was livid that Sophie didn't call or text me first, before the subterfuge - and neither did Kate.

I felt like some trust had been broken, as it took my son to tell me what happened. I thought that was so cheeky.

Never, ever again

Then I was in an awkward position. Did I confront Sophie, and/or her mum?

Should I say that I didn't appreciate being lied to?

But then... the boys were mates and we had many years ahead of us as families at the school.

I didn't know what to do... so I didn't do anything. I never mentioned it to Sophie or Kate, but I also never used Sophie as a sitter again.

And I think they both knew exactly why.

*Names have been changed for privacy.

Originally published as My friend's teen babysat for me - her one act means I'll never allow it again