Slightly Nervous

Well, we’ve always traded babysitting before with other parents, but since we haven’t found anyone here yet to trade with, we’ve been talking about just breaking down and paying a teenager to watch the boys when we need a date or want to get some work done on a big house project or something. So, today when Michael called me and said we were invited to dinner tonight for one of his coworker’s birthdays, I called around and got some recommendations and then found a babysitter for tonight. I was glad that the girl who was recommended to us was available on such short notice.

I decided to type up some info for the babysitter, including numbers where we could be reached and info about the boys and their routines so it’ll be a little easier for her. (I mean, really, 5 kids can be tough for me to handle sometimes, so leaving them all with a teenager makes me slightly nervous – not that I’m one of those over-protective parents who can’t handle being separated from her kids, but I would rather have the boys and the babysitter have a good experience than a terrible one and have that babysitter never want to come again). So, I wrote down the main things about the boys’ bedtime routines, where we keep the diapers, formula, burp cloths, etc. around the house, what help Camden will need with going to the bathroom, what we do with time-outs when the kids are being difficult, and what the boys are talking about when they ask for their ‘mantas’ [blankets], etc. and I ended up with 3 typed pages of instructions.

Oh well, what’s the worst that can happen? [Well, besides the fact that one of them could swallow something poisonous and have to be rushed to the hospital, or jump off the top of the swing set and break his arms and legs?] I’m confident that I’ve found a good babysitter, because she came highly recommended by another mom who has 4 kids, the only thing that makes me nervous is that I know how the boys can sometimes make huge messes or be difficult when I’m around, so I don’t know what they will do for someone else. Hopefully they will see her as a big kid who is playing with them, and they will love it, instead of be difficult for her. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.