Babysitters...and why it seems we'll never have one

Babysitters....some are for them at an early age while others, like me, tend to err on my child being at least a year old first.  It's not that I don't trust my friends, if I had any that would've liked to watch him that is, but I just don't trust teenagers.  I work with teenagers all day and leaving my kid with one of them unless VERY CAREFULLY selected isn't something I would want to do.  I have some friends whose brother's sister's mother-in-law recommended this 14 year old and they are fine with that.  I, on the other hand, want them to meet my child, interact with them and I have to know them as well, not just be referred.

In any case, after Gage turned a year old we decided that we would need to find a babysitter if we ever wanted to go out again.  Of course the grandparents are great when they're here, but a) they are not always here, b) they don't live close enough to just drop him off and c) even if they did, they have things they want to do as well.  Enter Babysitter #1:  I have a 20 something coworker who is the most honest, kindest person you could ever meet.  She mentioned that she would love to come over and watch Gage sometime if we ever wanted to go out, even once a week!  However, Gage had never met her (we don't really hang out outside of work) so I wanted them to spend some time together before I left him with her alone.  So as you may remember, I blogged about cleaning out our garage back in April or May and Shari had come over and played with Gage while we did this.  We figured that we would be here if he was nervous or she needed anything but we could still get stuff done.  The day went well, but when it was time for Shari to leave she wouldn't take ANY  money.  Are you kidding me?  She said she couldn't take money from a  friend...remember the MOST honest person alive!  Anyway, I told her we weren't really friends...hah..j/k.  I did tell her that we really wanted her to be our regular babysitter and in that case she HAD to take money.  (She had just told me the week before she was saving up for grad school.)  Anyway, she didn't take the money but Luke and I discussed that we could pay her in gift cards or something else if it came down to it....  Either way, we wanted her to come over this summer to watch Gage and she couldn't just watch him for FREE!  However, because she is the nicest person ALIVE, she volunteered to work at a Christian summer camp in Wyoming and will be gone ALL summer....Exit Babysitter #1.  She probably isn't getting paid for that either!

After we found out she'd be gone all summer, Luke and I started to think of different options.  Then I found out one of my students lived in our neighborhood and got her name and number.  She is a pretty responsible kid but I'm not sure I could trust her 100%, so....I figured she'd be the backup in case we really needed someone.  I also got the name and number of a girl who used to work at Gage's daycare and whom I really liked the few times I met her.  We'd probably still have to re-introduce them, but at least I knew she was certified and took care of kids all the time.  Then...

FINALLY, Enter Babysitter #2:  One of Gage's last days of school before the summer, I mentioned to his favorite daycare provider that we were looking for a babysitter.  She immediately said, 'I'd LOVE to do it!  And that way I get to see him this summer".  My jaw dropped, I figured no chance would she want to do it since she does it all day every day, but I WAS SO thrilled because we LOVE LOVE LOVE her AND Gage is already so comfortable with her and we didn't have to worry about a thing.  A few weeks back I called her to set up a date to take Luke out for his birthday (today) and she said that would be great and I told her I'd get back to her with a time after looking at the movies.  I spoke with her again last weekend to confirm a time, but hadn't talked to her since.  I figured she had written it down and that was that.  As of Thursday I hadn't heard anything but texted her to touch base.  I also called her Friday and Saturday when I hadn't heard anything.  As of yesterday, I had no reason to believe she was going to back out on us.  And then last night when we had heard nothing from her, we realized it was going to happen.  Are you kidding me, I thought.  First, I HATE it when people back out of things and let me know, but it infuriates me if you back out with no warning.   AND did I mention we LOVE her??  I mean, we obviously don't know her personally but we LOVE her at school and had NO idea she would just back out without calling or anything.  I'd really like to believe there's some emergency because I don't feel like she'd do this at all....I am going to be very disappointed if I find out otherwise.  I was planning on taking him to school one day this week anyway and it will be pretty awkward if she's there and has no good explanation!  I mean, why would his teacher do this?  It's not like she'll never see us again....weird, very weird.  Anyway, Exit Babysitter #2.

Now, after all that, we didn't get to go out for Luke's birthday today.  (Good thing we didn't have REAL plans.)  And we are no farther along in the babysitter search than before.  Not sure we will ever get there.....

Hope you're having a good Sunday!