Had a lovely moment yesterday. We are at our first dog sit ever for the half term holiday, at a wonderful countryside location not far from home. The owner was kind enough to let us have some friends visit for the day, one of whom being my 12yo sons best friend.
They get here, we feed the farm animals, the boys chill in a bedroom with a TV (luxury and totally banned usually), cuddle the cats and amazing dog, and we go for the muddiest walk ever right out of the door. Then the friend starts asking me questions about how much it costs to do this, how much bills are, places we have been, etc before telling his mum that this is what he wants to do in the future. He is going to get a part time job and spend his life looking after people’s homes and pets for them.
So so nice to be able to share these lovely moments with our friends, and really appreciative of the kind pet owners who welcome visitors - we have told all our friends about sitting before and they’re always interested, but to be able to come and see it in action changes things a bit!
@catscatscats24 Oh I love this thread. There’s something quietly brilliant about that moment, isn’t there? Not the “TV in the bedroom” luxury (though I’m sure that helped ), but the penny dropping for a 12-year-old that there are different ways to build a life.
This is so lovely to read. These are exactly the kinds of experiences that plant little seeds. When children see that travel, responsibility, animals and freedom can all exist in the same picture, it expands their thinking in the best possible way.
And how special that his first impression of sitting is muddy walks, cosy cats and kind owners. That’s a pretty wonderful starting point.
You never know — you may just have inspired a future long-term sitter.
Absolutely this. My sons friend is a kid who struggles with doing things the way society demands, sitting still in a classroom for 6 hrs a day. I dont think he will ever be happy working a 9-5 which i totally relate to, so it was a really emotional moment for me realising we might have shown him a totally new path.
Our eyes have been opened to the diversity within the housesitter community - in terms of personal situations, housesitting objective and listing preferences.
Looking after farm animals is not everyone’s preference but that doesn’t matter at all as it can be a dream preference for some portion of housesitters.
Housesitting can bring opportunities for wonderful adventure. Can take time, effort and resilience but so do many things in life. Enjoy the moment!
), but the penny dropping for a 12-year-old that there are different ways to build a life.
