Sean and I are going to my cousins wedding in August. I'm looking forward to it. The last wedding I went to was my brothers and I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have - worrying about the kids, I was in the wedding party and that's always a bit of work, etc.
This time though the kids are not coming which means they are getting a sitter. The girls, I'm not too worried about. They're older, adaptable and they can talk. Connor is my concern. Besides my mother, the only person to ever babysit him has been my sister in law, once, earlier this year. He did fine with her but we were both wrecks. Connor is shy, he doesn't take well to new people and though he sees a lot of new people often, I'm the constant. I'm always there.
So I called up Emily's best friends older sister. She's 17, a responsible girl, good family, good head on her shoulders and asked her if she'd sit for us. Now is the tricky part. I've had her come twice now. Once was for my dad's wake. Connor was already in bed though so he didn't know the difference. She also came this morning.
Connor was not impressed. He took one look at her and screamed holy murder. He clung to me like a little monkey. He threw himself on the floor and head butt the fire place. I'm sure the sitter was thinking "Shit, what did I get myself into!"
So we put on Pooh Bear (pee boo) and I gave him his soother (an otherwise forbidden love, unless he's in bed) The sitter also had a stash of cookies (what better to bribe the confidence of a child than a treat)
So I plopped Connor in Emily's lap and took off out of the house as fast as I could.
It should be known the my mom was home, downstairs, listening to how it really went. I mean, speaking from experience, I'm certainly not going to tell a daycare parent that their child is crying often in the beginning because that's a normal thing and I don't want the parents to worry needlessly. So I would expect that the sitter will say the same thing, "Oh, he was fine"
So I went off to pick up Mary from her sleepover. Her friend lives 2 minutes away. I called my mom twice in that two minutes to see how it was going. It was going well, no crying and she could hear him running around upstairs. Good sign.
Now here's the funny thing. I was talking to Mary's friends mom (she's actually one of my daycare mom's) I was telling her about my babysitter woes and she offered to take care of the kids for the wedding. Well I'll tell ya, I'm kicking myself for not thinking of that beforehand! Not only would Connor have had no trouble with her (he sees her nearly everyday!) but she's a Mom. Who else knows how to handle a 21 month olds temper tantrum better than someone who's been there before! And - it wouldn't have cost me anything because I would have traded her a week of daycare for the night of sitting my kids. So even though Connor did great with his sitter, I'm kind of wishing now that I'd asked my daycare mom instead.
But - Connor did good with his sitter. He liked her. And she lives right around the corner so if there is any problems her mom can come and lend a hand.
So, on to the daycare thing. I am torn on what I should do. I had a referral today from one of my existing clients. I'm interviewing the family tomorrow. On one hand, it's covering what I'm losing from the other child leaving. On the other hand, it's another 1 year old. The hours are pretty decent. But it's a 1 yr old.
I was just warming up to the idea of having a few days here and there free with just Connor and me. But I also have to think of the windows that need to be paid for among other things.
I guess I'll wait and see how it goes with the interview. Wish me luck!
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