History Main / BabysitterFromHell

# Children are frightened of them. HilarityEnsues as [[NotNowKiddo adults take little notice]] of a child's instinctive concern, being either too busy or assuming it's just ordinary separation anxiety.

* Rat proved himself to be the absolute ''worst'' babysitter imaginable in the ''ComicStrip/BabyBlues''[=-=]''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'' crossover strip: Here's a rundown of what happened: he agrees to do everything Wanda and Darryl ask of him, and as soon as they leave, [[DrinkingOnDuty prepares to waste himself with shots of Tequila (and started wearing a beer hat)]]. He then has Zoe and Hammie go out to a package and liquor store to get more bottles of tequila (note: Zoe and Hammie are incredibly too young to drive, never mind below the age limit of purchasing alcohol, so he's risking their being potentially arrested and doing time at a juvenile correction facility for driving below the age limit, underage purchasing of alcohol, ''and'' possession of alcohol while driving just to get himself drunk yet again, at the very least). Predictably, it goes as badly as possible, with Hammie apparently wrecking their parents' minivan, which also causes a gas station to explode, and apparently they accidentally ran over Jeremy from Zits, and his reaction was horror that their liquor run was delayed. Likewise, he left Wren unsupervised while he went to watch a movie, which nearly got Wren eaten by the crocodiles (only reason they didn't eat her is that she turned the tables on them and actually bludgeoned them to death [[BatterUp with a plastic bat]]). Honestly, at least [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents Vicky]] expressed some concern when Timmy disappeared under her charge.

* WesternAnimation/CaptainFlamingo has Meghan: a lazy teenager who just can't seem to get off the phone. She takes almost no notice of Milo and his friends' antics, and if she does notice, it's not really that big a deal. How does she react:

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Subverted with Elizabeth[=/=]Zee from ''WesternAnimation/MonsterHouse''. Though largely apathetic to DJ, she calls off her boyfriend when he continues harassing her charge, and even gives the kids some Halloween candy.

While becoming a BadlyBatteredBabysitter may be an adult's worst nightmare, having a Babysitter from Hell is a child's.

* The British comic book ''2000AD'' once featured a short story about a nasty little boy named Bradley whose idea of fun was to tie a mouse between two of his model railway engines and drive them in opposite directions. Then Bradley asks his parents for a certain machine which, when you press the button, changes into "exactly what you need." Bradley's parents exchange a look and get him the machine. Bradley presses the button and the machine changes into exactly what he needs all right - the Babysitter From Hell, which [[LaserGuidedKarma immediately straps him down to a table (which is part of the machine), gags him and puts up a display reading "you move - you die"]] while the boy's parents enjoy a welcome break from trying to keep the little brat out of trouble.

* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' has a strip in which the parents come home and find [[spoiler:that the witch they hired cooked and ate not one, but both children.]]

* The unnamed babysitter for Georgia and Shaun in ''[[Literature/{{Newsflesh}} Feed]]''. [[spoiler: She decides that Georgia doesn't really ''need'' her sunglasses and tosses them out into the backyard, making the twins search for them. Important detail: this is after the ZombieApocalypse and zombies are still shambling around everywhere. Fortunately for them, the same ocular medical condition that ''did'' make the sunglasses necessary allowed Georgia to see an incoming zombie in time for Shaun to deal with the threat. A decade later, he still thinks that's the best gift she's ever given him.]]

* From the anthology series ''Literature/ClassicSingaporeHorrorStories'', one of the stories titled ''Suffer the Children'' revolves around an unmarried woman in her 30s who is tasked with taking care of her sister's two children. Harboring a grudge towards her far more successful sister, she instead spends her time whipping, beating, and abusing both kids, culminating in an [[spoiler: AccidentalMurder moment when she smashed her niece's head repeatedly on a wall and crushing the little girl's skull]].

* Miss Andrew from the ''Literature/MaryPoppins'' series is so conceited and verbally abusive, Mr. Banks refers to her as "a Holy Terror!" She also appears in the musical, where she gets a [[VillainSong musical number]] called "[[StockYuck Brimstone and Treacle]]" - her go-to for dealing with [[ChildHater irksome children]].
* In one of the ''Literature/TeenageWorrier'' books, Letty wants to go out to a party to see her crush, but is supposed to be watching her little brother Benjy. She asks two neighboring kids to babysit him while she goes out - even though Benjy is clearly terrified of them, and they know nothing about looking after kids. When she gets back from the party, she finds that they sat him in front of a violent horror movie, got him drunk, ''and'' let their hamster escape in the house.

* ''Literature/AKindOfSpark'': When Addie was four and her twin older sisters Nina and Keedie were eleven, they had an abusive childminder named Mrs Craig. At this point, Keedie had been diagnosed with autism, but Addie had not, and Mrs Craig thought Keedie was a spoiled brat. When Keedie couldn't stomach the disgusting dinner, Mrs Craig [[TantrumThrowing threw a plate]], pinned her to the ground, and screamed at her. At that point, a neighbor heard the screams and intervened, but Keedie didn't come out of her room for days.

** This is also Nick's backstory - he was molested by his babysitter as a boy.

-->'''Rochelle''': "Hold my hair." *hands Chris her wig as a boxing bell goes off*

* Played with in ''Series/ThatsSoRaven''. In "Cake Fear," Raven and her brother are told their parents are hiring an old babysitter to look after them for the weekend. The babysitter, Ms. Patterson, was a complete pushover who let them do whatever they wanted, and they blamed her for eating a cake their dad made for their mom's birthday. Raven expects her to still be the same pushover she was before until they find out she had a psychotic breakdown, spent time in prison... and escaped. And then Raven's friends start disappearing while staying at the house. [[spoiler: It turns out the whole thing's a reality TV show prank on Raven and Cory. Ms. Patterson wanted to get back at them for blaming her for the cake incident, and their dad was in on it the whole time.]]

* [[Music/{{Queen}} "Left alone with big fat Fanny / She was such a naughty nanny . . ."]]
** "Fat-Bottomed Girls" is open for interpretation: was Fanny sexually abusive, provocative, or just the kind of person who would let her charges stay up past their bedtime eating ice cream and watching R-rated movies?

---->'''Grim Reapers''': ''Give us the boy!''\\
'''Timmy''': I have to get Vicky back!

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingSpiez!'' episode "Operation Spy-Sitter". The kids' parents hire a babysitter named Melinda to look after them. Melinda appears to be perfect, having just the skills to help each of them. She turns out to be a he - an enemy spy named Mel who's been kidnapping WOOHP spies, and now wants the kids.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' inexplicably features Dee Dee babysitting Mandark, in spite of the fact that they both appear to be about the same age. Dee Dee repeatedly denigrates Mandark by calling him by his real name, teases him for playing with 'dollies,' bathes him, and dresses him for bed - all the while, "Susie" grimaces in embarrassment. Ultimately, Mandark writes the experience off as a positive because his mother left instructions for him to [[AnywhereButTheirLips receive a goodnight kiss before bed]].

* Mild instance in ''Series/FlashForward2009'', with the babysitter making out with her guy while the child in her care is upstairs asleep, right before the blackout.
* ''Series/EverybodyHatesChris'' has the "Everybody Hates The Babysitter" episode in which the babysitter won't stay in the house, gets into a fight with her baby's daddy, and leaves Chris to look after the kid because she's too lazy. The episode ends with Chris blabbing about everything she did and Rochelle getting ready to beat the hell out of her. There wasn't much saying this was another ImagineSpot either, so it probably actually happened.
-->'''Rochelle''': "Hold my hair." *hands Chris her wig as a boxing bell goes off*

* ''Series/CreepedOut'':
** Esme in "Kindlesticks". She scares the kids she is babysitting with stories of a monster who will eat them if they don't go to bed and has her boyfriend dress up as the monster to help scare them.
** Ava the digital assistant in "Help" is a tech version of this, since Molly's parents have no trouble leaving her alone with it for a weekend.

* Lori from ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', complete with DrillSergeantNasty getup. Justified since she's trying to keep the house from falling into more chaos while the parents are gone.
** In the episode "Sitting Bull," Lori, Leni, Luna, and Luan pride themselves as the best babysitters in town, and reluctantly allow [[CompetitionFreak Lynn Jr.]] into their business. They regret it almost immediately after a client calls to complain about how she forced her kids to perform rigorous exercises. When they threaten to kick her out of their group, she takes on their jobs and gets them fired, citing rough treatment. They then decide to stick her with the worst kids they know to get her to quit. It doesn't work, as Lynn Jr. proves to be the only babysitter that can actually put up with them, and gets hired by that couple to care for their kids whenever they want to go out.

** A more "literal" case, is one episode where Timmy in an act of revenge read her diary and sabotaged her love life. Since Vicky was too upset to babysit, Timmy's parents hired a replacement: a group of sitters who resemble ''THE FREAKING [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings '''NAZGUL!!''']]''

** A more "literal" case, is one episode where Timmy in an act of revenge read her diary and sabotaged her love life. Since Vicky was too upset to babysit, Timmy's parents hired a replacement: a group of sitters who resemble ''THE FREAKING [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings '''NAZGUL!!''''']]

** A more "literal" case, is one episode where Timmy in an act of revenge read her diary and sabotaged her love life. Since Vicky was too upset to babysit, Timmy's parents hired a replacement: a group of sitters who resemble ''THE FREAKING '''NAZGUL!!'''''