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Even When I Felt Unsure, I Always Had Reliable Support — By Mizue
UPBEAT Sitter Service offers families the option of “English Sitting” with international sitters. We spoke with Mizue, a sitter based in Nagoya, who registered with this new service launched by UPBEAT International School (an IB-accredited school), and currently works with two families.
Did she feel any hesitation as she stepped into a role she had never taken on before?
1.Why I Chose Sitter Work—and What It Means to Me
I’ve always worked with children. After graduating from university, I spent about five years at a kindergarten. I have childcare and kindergarten teaching licenses, as well as a teaching credential, and I now work as a part-time teacher at an elementary school.
Because my school job ends early in the afternoon and my own children have grown older, I found myself with a bit more free time. I started thinking it might be nice to have a side job. That’s when I came across UPBEAT Sitter Service. Even though I had no experience as a sitter, the idea of working at my own pace felt right, and I decided to give it a try.
To be honest, I didn’t really know much about sitter services. My image was something like “a common service overseas” or “something used only by wealthy families in Japan.” I also assumed it mostly involved caring for infants, which made me nervous. But when I heard that the service also supports preschoolers and elementary school children, I decided to give it a try.
2. Behind the Scenes: How the Work Works
I currently visit two families. My first assignment was caring for three-year-old twins, taking over from another sitter who had already worked with them several times.
My second case is a foreign family who has an infant. I work as a substitute sitter when their main sitter is unavailable. I was extremely nervous at first, but once I started, I found myself remembering my own child-raising experiences. It wasn’t as overwhelming as I had imagined.
What reassured me the most was the support system. A coordinator accompanied me until I felt comfortable. The number of accompaniment visits seems to vary, but in my case, the coordinator joined me twice for each family. Being able to learn by observing and not having to manage all communication with the parents right away was incredibly helpful.
We also have a system where we can contact a coordinator anytime via LINE. For example, when the twins were fussy and kept wanting to go back to their parents, I started worrying that I wasn’t doing a good job. But when I messaged the coordinator, they advised me to check with the parents. When I asked, the parents said, “We usually manage both kids on our own. If you can look after even one of them, that helps us so much.” Hearing that reminded me that all I need to do is focus on providing the best care I can in that moment.
3. A Moment I’ll Never Forget—and Why It Matters
With the three-year-old twins, I usually visit once a week. After a month or two, they became really comfortable with me and started inviting me to play, saying things like, “Let’s play with water today! This way!” Moments like that made me incredibly happy.
More recently, I learned that the children watch me leave through their outdoor camera and wave goodbye. I started waving back and pretending to give them a high-five toward the camera. These little exchanges have become such a heartwarming routine for me.
As we all became more comfortable, the parents also started sharing various stories from their daily life, and sometimes even lighthearted complaints. While I’m with the children, the parents can clean areas they usually don’t have time for or take one twin out for special one-on-one time. I realized that sitters don’t just “watch kids”— we help create meaningful time for each child and for the parents as well.
Another thing I appreciate is how easy it is to talk to the operations team. Once, I posted in our LINE group that I was unsure how others were using the Excel invoice sheet because my method felt inefficient. Instead of just explaining it, they actually redesigned the sheet to make it more user-friendly. I was so surprised—I didn’t expect such a quick improvement!
Having a place where I can casually express concerns, and knowing that someone will listen and respond, makes me feel truly supported.
4. Looking Forward
Working with different children helps me grow, too. While I currently visit two families, I hope that over time I’ll be able to work with more.
Since starting this job, I’ve also come to feel that sitter services should become more familiar to people. I’m naturally the type who feels a bit hesitant about having someone I don’t know come into my home. But if a friend had told me, “This service is really good,” I think I might have tried it myself at some point. I hope this service becomes something people can use comfortably and naturally.