Wednesday, February 22, 2006

ode to a babysitter

I have to give it up for my babysitter.

She is AWESOME.

I love her.

Every mom knows how daunting it is to find a new babysitter. Especially if you don't know where to start. When my first sitter moved to Florida, I had to find someone new. I asked around but people are very reluctant to give you the name of their babysitter! I went to Craig's List and found that people who are babysitters put ads out looking for jobs! You would think it would be the other way around, but no! You would be wrong. So long story short, I sent her an email, invited her over and liked her right from the start. She began sitting for us on a semi-regular basis. Usually about once or twice a month, so Mark and I could go out on dates.

Cut to December 2005 and me with my leg all broken. I called Rachelle and asked if she would be willing to work for us on a somewhat REGULAR basis. Like, everyday. She is a college student who is studying to become a teacher, (Did I mention she wants to be a montessori teacher? Boy, she sure said all the right things during that interview) so I knew her schedule might be an issue. However, since I timed the accident so perfectly (during the holidays and in between semesters) she was willing to schedule classes around the times that I needed her. Namely between the hours of 3 and 7pm.

Since January, she has been helping out daily. She picks up the kids from school, gives them snacks and helps keep them entertained and away from the television. She shuttles me to the grocery store when I need to go and helps me prepare dinner. She is a supreme salad maker-- I hate to make salads, but love to eat them, so this is very important to me. She eats with our family almost every night and sticks around and loads the dishwasher after! Every day she asks me if there is anything I want her to do around the house. Sometimes I come up with creative projects like changing the sheets on all the beds. She happily complies. You want her too don't you? Well too bad, you can't have her. She is mine.

As my leg improves, and I am able to do more around the house I know my "need" for her will be coming to an end. I am looking forward to driving and being able to do all of the things I normally do around the house, but can't help feeling a little sad about her not being with us on a daily basis. When I became a stay-at-home-mom, I did so because I wanted to raise my kids myself, and sort of looked down my nose at a fellow SAHM who employed a nanny. Now I have seen the light! I am torn by my need to get back to normal and the thought of saying goodbye to my babysitter. I know she will still work for us if we want to go out on a date, but it's not the same. I am going to miss her.

-Sigh-

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

What is a craigs list? Are they everywhere? I NEED a babysitter who is reliable!!! Of course that would mean having to figure out some sort of topic to speak about with my husband.... hmmmmmmm.
I did this sort of job with a friend after she had her 2nd c/s while I was in university. Hadn't thought about it until this afternoon. Thanks for linking up the memories!
K

February 23, 2006  
Blogger T$ said...

K
Craig's list is a sort of on-line classified list. They are everywhere in the US in the major (and not so major) cities. I know you are in Canada, so I am not sure if they have listings or not. Just google Craig's list Winnepeg.

T

February 23, 2006  

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