Babysitters

I was having some trouble coming up with what to write about today. Yesterday evening wasn't that great and not much happened today, so...hmmm. This weekend we have friends coming to visit and we'll be headed out to dinner. My girls are really great, really well behaved, but I know that we're going to want to relax and take our time, and talk for awhile when we're out. And the girls will eventually get bored...and vocal about that boredom. So, we need a babysitter.

Awhile back I joined care.com ($35/month yikes) for a couple months, to find some local reputable babysitters. It turns out most of the sitters on there are college students or day care women. So we picked a couple and tried them out, and the girls loved them. Today I called the first one, and her phone is no longer her phone...so..I guess she's out. So I tried the second, and while luckily her phone is still her phone..she's unavailable for this weekend. So...I'll be calling grandpa later tonight, to see if he's available.

I'm always torn when I call my dad to babysit. I know he loves the girls and would do anything for them, but I also know he has his own life. And girlfriend. She's wonderful by the way, and awesome with the girls. But I feel like I'm using him when he babysits, I couldn't pay him, it'd take a wrestling match to get him to let anyone pay for dinner, let alone pay him to watch his precious grandchildren. And I feel like maybe they had better plans (that he wouldn't tell me about) that I'm preventing him from. Sigh. Anyway, I'll call, he'll say yes - even if he previously had other plans - and hopefully we'll be all set.

The other thing is that babysitters are EXPENSIVE. Most of them say anywhere from $7-$15 per hour. If I recall, I babysat A LOT in high school, and I made somewhere between $2 and $5 per hour, never more than that. And the $5/hour people..those were the "rich" people and you hoped they'd call you again. I'm not complaining really, well sort of...shouldn't I be glad to pay ANY amount for the care of my precious cherubs? Turns out not. So we limit the paid babysitter to a rare occasion and use the grandparents as much as possible otherwise. Another great reason for the in-laws to move to town..another grandparent set to rotate in :)

Perhaps tomorrow I'll have a better post idea. Or something dramatic will happen! Ooooo! Unlikely.