If you’ve never hired a mitter, (aka a male babysitter), you may be missing out on awesome care and a refreshing change of pace for your kids. Mitters bring diversity and different styles of play to your children’s lives, and often make for excellent role models. To better understand the growing trend of male childcare providers, let’s take a look at one of our most popular male sitters, Gunter Lugo. Gunter has agreed to take time away from his busy schedule as a pre-med student, intern and babysitter to share some of his insights on why he and other male sitters are ideal sitter hires.
Gunter is a pre-med student studying Emergency Medical Care B.S. at Loma Linda University of Allied Health Professions in Southern California. He is currently doing an internship and conducting research at the University of California, San Francisco and is studying to become a trauma surgeon.
Many would agree, Gunter is an ideal babysitter. He has more than eight years of childcare experience, including caring for infants. He’s happy to help with homework, transport kids wherever they need to go, and is known for being a fun, playful, energetic sitter who is an instant hit with both kids and parents. He has many families as long-time clients and is open to sitting for local families as well as families in town on family travel.
Q&A with Gunter:
What can male sitters bring to childcare that families might not realize?
Being a male babysitter, I can set a positive role model for both boys and girls. Being a guy with sisters, I know how girls think and happily play the prince, dolls or do crafts. Being a guy, I can also entertain a little boy by wrestling or playing soccer for hours. Many families, especially those with sons, find that their kids love a big brother figure, and enjoy the rough housing and outdoor play that boys are often drawn to.
More male sitters have joined UrbanSitter lately and their popularity with parents is growing. Why do you think more men are looking to babysit?
We need to pay for our education! The high cost of education has many students – men and women – looking for ways to earn money to support them while in college. Babysitting is an ideal job for students, since we can work when our schedules allow. With UrbanSitter, I can post my availability to let families know when I’m in class and when I’m interested in babysitting. It allows me to fit babysitting jobs in between classes and study time. I don’t know of many other jobs that allow for that kind of flexibility.
Babysitting is often seen as a female-dominated domain. How do you feel about being a male sitter? And how do you think parents feel about it?
When I first started babysitting, I personally felt a bit different being a male and wondered how parents would respond to it. I quickly realized that there shouldn’t be any stigma to being a male babysitter. As long as you look clean and professional, provide quality care, a safe environment and loads of fun for their kids, parents won’t have any doubts when they leave for their day/night out. There is nothing a female can do that I can’t do, and any parent who has hired me would agree!
Whether you choose a male or female sitter, finding the right caregiver for your family depends on doing your homework. Read sitter profiles and parent reviews, watch sitter videos and interview candidates to make sure you find the right fit for your family. We bet that your kids will love a new buddy to care for them while you’re away.