Our neighbor across the street runs an in-home day care. Last
week, I moseyed across the street to check it out. Pleasantly surprised at how
she ran things and THRILLED that she charged only $3 an hour, I decided to
leave Titus the next day so I could try a yoga class. Turns out, childcare is
TOTALLY worth it! I also asked her for some babysitter recommendations and she
gave me three names! Now, babysitters in the military community are a precious
commodity and not commonly shared – everyone tends to need a babysitter on the
same night as all her friends because they’re all attending the same event – so
the fact that I just received three names of sitters unlikely to be in the
circle of military babysitters was a blessed gift!
I hired my first sitter Friday night. I must confess here
that my expectations were fairly low. I figured kids these days were
irresponsible and self-centered and I would just have to deal with it (and then
I took a moment as I realized that thought made me pretty close to officially “old”).
I chose to text her cell phone as I figured young kids nowadays don’t actually
talk to people anyway and was pleased to see that she actually spelled out all
her words and used correct grammar in her texts! Hmm, good sign. Still
apprehensive, I actually put Titus down a tad early just I wouldn’t have to
worry about the sitter doing my baby’s bedtime routine (hey, cut me a break –
first time mom hiring her first sitter here).
Anyway, Caitlin wildly exceeded my expectations!! She is
responsible, cares about school, is involved in sports, comes from a good
family, and has another job at the frozen yogurt place. Plus, she drives. What’s
more, she did my dishes, tidied up, and was overall a dream-come-true
babysitter!! I was ready to pledge my devotion to her already, but when she
said she didn’t want to take any money for that night because she “really didn’t
do anything” I was completely sold. I obviously insisted she take money because
I wanted to be sure she would be happy to come back and be my babysitter again.
So, thank you Lord for a completely amazing first
babysitter-hiring experience!!
