Can anyone give me babysitting advice?

Thanks! my cousin (who is 12) ans sister (the other 12 year old) get along ok, but they aren’t very…. good with little kids. Would it be ok to put them in charge of crafts? They are both VERY crafty!

My cousin is also certified by safe sitter, and likes control. My uncles and Aunts asked ME to babysitt THEM, but they prefere it the other way around. My cousin and her sister fight a ton, and if they do, I won’t be able to tell the older one what to do if she doesn’t lisen…. and she won’t.

My sister will eigther rebel, or try to boss the others around to the point where I give up.

How can I convice them to lissen? Should I have an Adult back me up in my authority over them? (I’m feeling sick just thinking about it!) >.<

The craft thing is an awesome idea! That’s how I did it, too. Like if one of the little-er kids was struggling with a craft, I would delegate, and ask one of the older kids to help out, and it worked really well. You’re in a difficult situation, because you know these kids, and you aren’t always in charge of them, so it’s going to be harder to get control of them. With the older kids, tell them that you aren’t trying to control them, you are just there to make sure things go well, and no one gets into trouble. If a fight breaks out, try to mediate. Sit them down, and calmly ask what’s going on. Get one point of view, and then the other. Try to come up with a solution that everyone can deal with. If someone wants to play one game, while the other wants to play another game, see if you could have three kids play one game, and three kids play another game. You’ve got a big enough group that you can split them up a little bit, you know? Bring movies that kids of all ages would like to watch. Think of movies that you like, that would still be appropriate for the four year old. How to Train Your Dragon, for example, is a movie that little kids like, and even I, an 18 year old, still enjoy. Basically, the two most important things you can do are 1) delegate, share a bit of the responsibility with the twelve year olds, and 2) mediate, try to solve problems amoung the kids. I think you are going to be fine, but if you have any questions, you can funmail me, and I’d be happy to give you some advice :)

That happened to me when I had to babysit 10 kids and the parents went to a party, I let the older ones hang out in a room while I took care of the younger ones.