Babysitting, Montreal — 1957-1960

My babysitting career was short. Good friends – a hardworking couple from Hungary – never seemed to have time together, away from the home, work, and their four-year-old son, Peter. I offered my services to stay with Peter for an evening so they could go out.

Susan and Imre left, all dressed up.  Peter and I had a little discussion about our plans for the evening. There was little to do at home besides watching television or reading stories. There was no backyard. I longed for fresh air and some action.

I recommended that we drive down to the harbor to look at some big ships, and maybe even visit one. Then we could top it off with ice cream or a Coke somewhere. Peter was enthusiastic. He was already in his pajamas, but the prospects of visiting a big ship invigorated him. It was a cool October night. I put his clothes and winter coat on over the pajamas. I left a note for his parents, apologizing for the unforeseen change in our plans, promising that we would be back before 10:00 p.m.

We drove to the Montreal harbor with anticipation. Fortunately, quite a few large freighters and ocean liners were docked. We took our chance with a passenger liner. A friendly sailor permitted us to come on board to look around for a few minutes. The boat was deserted. The sailors were having their time off and the new passengers were not due until the next morning. The sailor showed us a few lounges and then allowed us to wander around the deck. He loved the grateful sparkles in Peter’s eyes. We left the ship with the mission accomplished. We spent another fifteen minutes walking around, looking at the freighters, and enjoying the harbor atmosphere.

On the way home, we stopped at a little restaurant for a Coke and watched some games in the neighboring pool room. We had been having a superb time and I had forgotten to look at my watch. When I finally did, it was close to 10:30. When we arrived at the apartment, Susan and Imre were just reading our note. To their relief we were back and safe.

They thanked me for taking care of Peter, but for some strange reason, they never asked me to babysit again.