by David B. on Wed Jul 25, 2007 8:41 pm
I grew up in the UK in the 80's and while I have never been bathed by a babysitter (apart from a grandparent at age 6 or 7), my Mum is the only other person to have given me a bath.
From the age of around 9 or so I was left to bath myself and was reminded by Mum every now and again to wash well and yada yada. Well like some boys I started off okay but a couple of years down the line a tended to have a 'quick' bath and only do a few spashed here in there hardly touching the soap. Well, one day after school when I was 12 and still pre-puberty, Mum noticed that I looked a bit dirty behind my ears and she asked me if I was washing myself properly and using soap, so I lied and said, 'yes.' However what I didn't realise is that Mum had checked to see if the soap was wet for the last week or so and noticed that it was hardly wet or used!! Well I was now in for a surprise when she confronted me with this hard evidence. She told me to go to my room, undress completely then goto the bathroom by which time she would have the bathtub ready. Once I arrived at the bathroom, Mum looked at my naked body (I wasn't embarrassed because she'd seen me naked before) and told me that I needed to be given a good bath. I think I said, "Aww!" but Mum ushered me into the tub none-the-less. Once in the bath Mum proceeded to bath me all over and get her dirty child squeaky clean!
Since then I can tell you that I bathed myself thoroughly and kept my self clean since then and particularly during puberty. So although I'd never admit this to my mates, I was glad Mum gave me a bath that day because it rang home the importance of cleanliness in time for when I started puberty around 13.
As for a teenage babysitter giving a boy of 12 a bath. Not sure - maybe the 17 year old but only if she was the boy's sister. Somehow I don't think it'd be appropriate otherwise.
David