Demiera's Abridged Gateway To All Things American and Specifically Chicagoan

I'm baaaaaaaack!!

I've decided to start this section partly because I really want to share some of the stuff specific to Chicago. But there are also things that go on in the US that my lovely readers from other countries may not know about or understand. The idea actually stemmed from two sources: the first was a Chicagopedia I saw online (which isn't very thorough or accurate in my opinion), and from KC asking me what babysitting was. So here goes:

Babysitting - An America-wide practice of dumping your bad ass kids on somebody else to deal with while you go out and have fun. In my case, I babysit my cousins while my aunt and uncle are at work, since it's the summer and they aren't in school. Since I'm their cousin and I've taken care of them since before they could crawl, I often have to play Mommy with them (and anyone talking to me on the phone when I interact with them will tell you that). Not all babysitters are like that, though. Most of the time, they just sit and run up the people's cable and phone bill while the little demon child flushes toy trains down the toilet and throws macaroni and cheese on the wall.

That was a pretty brutal way of putting it. In honesty, babysitting can be beneficial for both parties. The parents get a break from their little heathen children and can really go get things done. The kids get a break from the nagging of their parents and more relaxed rules (often a babysitter is just like a substitute teacher with less power). And the babysitter makes easy CASH that can be used for...drugs or whatever teenagers these days get :P

Hope this was helpful! I'll be expanding on that Chicagopedia I mentioned in later posts, and if you have anything you want explained comment on this post or put it in the shout box! :)