Even when your kids are picky selective, wild energetic, obnoxious creative, little busy bodies who know it all and don’t mind telling you so sweet hearts who are knowledgeable and willing to amicably share what they know with less informed individuals!
Welcome to another edition of Mom Tip Tuesday where Dumb Mom shares her best tricks of the mommying trade for how to make your life with kids awesomer.
Want to know how to take amazing photo-contest-winning photos of your kids? No problem! Dumb Mom’s Guide to Taking Awesome Photos of Your Kids can help with that.
Maybe you really just want to know how to make your kids better people. You know, the kind other, non-relatives are gonna like. Sure thing! Dumb Mom’s Guide to Saving the World One Child At a Time is just what you need.
Recently I found myself in desperate need of outside help of the child watching sort.
I got myself a J-O-B that allows me to mostly work from home, but does require a few dedicated hours a week in order for me to do it.
Because I don’t have any spare hours hanging around Casa de Dummies that don’t include The Dudes, I had to outsource (aka hire a nanny-sitter-lady-girl).
And, lemme just tell you. She. Is. GREAT!
The Dudes love her. I love her (seriously, she reads vampire books, we are a match made in Heaven). Dumb Dad’s never met her, but he loves her too (he’s smart enough to know that if I’m happy then he’s much more likely to be happy as well).
Now that I’m happily coupled with my sitter extraordinaire, let me share Dumb Mom’s Guide to Finding the Perfect Sitter for your Possibly Less Than Perfect Kids.
1. Call up Santa. Yes, as in Santa Claus. Most days Santa is the only person The Dudes will behave for and then they only keep out of trouble briefly until the fact of his omnipresence wears off. But wouldn’t they be surprised if he showed up at The Casa to watch them one weekend while Dumb Dad and I catch a film? They’d have to be good for Santa, right?
2. If Santa’s not available, go young. Actually, the younger the better (but preferably over 18). I’m not trying to be ageist or anything; I like grandmothers as long as they aren’t writing checks at Wal-Mart or behind the wheel of a car just as much as the next person, but my kids have way more energy than the average 75 year old (excluding Betty White. No one has more energy than Betty White!).
3. Bribery. Family, friends, friends of friends, family of friends, friends of your family friends. Confusing? Perhaps, but desperate times call for desperate measures and taking your 8 year old to a pap smear is not an option, nor is taking your two year old to a staff meeting you are scheduled to give a presentation at. Find yourself in a situation such as this and you may be bribing your neighbor’s sister’s daughter’s summer school teacher to come over to your house and watch your kids, sight unseen, for an obscene amount of money. Or, you could do what I usually do: get Mimi and Papa to do it and promise them an overnight and a fishing trip. Who loses in that situation? Sounds like a win-win for everybody!
4. Ask around. Although some parents get all babysitter-stingy on you, many people with a great sitter want to brag about it are willing to share. Obviously if you can get a recommendation from someone you know and trust you will feel much more comfortable when the time comes to bid farewell to your little heathens for a night on the town sans diaper bags and car seats (seriously, I’d leave them with the UPS guy to go to a Justin Timberlake attended event).
5. Check online. I know. It seems kinda creepy at first. Like online dating. But, it’s really not. I found Misstoria (that’s what The Dudes call our sitter so we’ll call her that too) on Care.com. I just typed in my zip code and voila there she was! Actually, I put up an ad (that got tons of hits), interviewed a couple of chicks (who were ok, but not great), and then searched around the site a bit and found Misstoria. It took me less than a week to find her. And the site is great because new sitter join on a daily basis so there is always fresh meat a large group to chose form. We honestly couldn’t be happier (unless Mimi decided to quit her job, move in with us, and become our full-time child care giver). Her schedule works out, she’s super nice, she plays with The Dudes (swords, and toys, and play-doh, and other stuff I don’t do but should), and she even makes lunch.
Want to find the babysitter (or pet sitter or grandma sitter) of your dreams? Enter my DON’T HATE ME BECAUSE I’M BEAUTIFUL PHOTO CONTEST FOR UNBELIEVABLY CUTE KIDS so that you can win a free month on Care.com too.*
Have a Mom Tip to Share with the masses? Link it up here (I mean if you wanna make the next BList).
*Care.com provided a free membership to me as part of this review. They will also be supplying the winners of the photo contest with a free month long membership as well. If free is not your bag, you’re more than welcome to pay!
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Can I steal Misstoria, and have her come here to watch the Kennedy Kaboodle?? I need Supergirl to keep up with these 3 small fry!
Ohhh I was on care.com for a while too, they were great….we interviewed a couple of people that seemed really great and then we decided no one is better than grandma and grandpa when it comes to babysitting!
I usually ask my friends. All of them have kids that are older. It rocks because I know if they don’t do a good job their Mommas will take care of it for me.
Finding a sitter is probably one of the hardest things ever. We lived in our neighborhood for 4 years before we finally had a sitter we liked. Congrats on the J-O-B.
We are so fortunate that we have grandparents nearby who can sit for us. And that our eldest is old enough to babysit as well. Although honestly, I tend to rely on the grandparents more because they’re not apt to scream YOU HAVE TO DO WHAT I SAY. MOM SAYS. HAH! SO I AM THE BOSS OF YOU FOR THE NEXT FOUR HOURS. DO MY LAUNDRY.
I am spacier than usual today with a tip for those who wait on the large scale.
I ask anything that breathes if they are a babysitter. Not kidding. Starbucks, grocery store, gas station, waitresses, the people on the corner with signs that say “Will work for food.” What? They need work and my kids need care.
Also. I LOVE care.com. LOVE.
Congratulations on the job, how exciting! Glad to hear you found a fabulous babysitter.
I am a nanny for infant twins and have found a lot of my jobs through Craigslist. I have also found people to watch my kids on Craigslist and even a a babysitting exchange we did with another couple for a few years. Others have recommended care.com although as a nanny or babysitter there is a fee so that is why Craigslist wins out for me.
Living thousands of miles from our family and moving here last year without knowing another soul finding a good babysitter was hard. At the PTA meeting one of the teenagers who provided free childcare at the meeting said she babysat and is now my kids regular babysitter (I don’t get home from work until about an hour after my kids get home from school). We also met another teenager through our church who is going to babysit this Sunday for the first time. My kids love her when she watches them at church so I think it will be great. My kids are older (10,9,7) so a teenager is great because their rates are lower and my kids don’t need as close of care as an infant.
For date nights if you don’t have family that can watch the kids I highly recommend trying a babysitting exchange. We did it in Colorado for 2-3 years and it worked great. We have 3 kids, they have 2, all similar ages. The kids came to our house one night a month and our kids went to their house one night a month. After a few times we just did sleepovers cause it was easier. Free childcare for us and playdates for our kids. Fabulous!
Thanks for your tips!
Due to my lack of a job I don’t need a sitter much (except to save whats left of my sanity) Luckily Grandma and Papa love to take the boys and I happily send them away! BTW, I have an award for you at my blog, stop by when you have a chance!
You just sweetened the pot, didn’t you? I’m so glad I entered your contest. A free month of babysitting, here I come!!
Oh, and I need to make more friends so I can have more people to bribe. My little circle is on to me…
In CA, I had to ask friends, which was hard because I never wanted to take advantage of anyone. Now that we’re in AZ, I take advantage of my parents all the time. Ok, I still have a problem asking for more than one date night a month, but I’m comfortable enough to ask for doctor’s appiotments and gift shopping.
And as a retired awesome babysitter myself, I recommend young too because they’ve got energy and always screen for how involved potential babysitters are with their boyfriends. Being babysat by a sitter who talks nonstop on the phone sucks.
Hi, this is Stacy. I’m a member of Care.com’s Mom Force—a team of work-at-home moms that helps with safety and customer service. I may be biased but as a mom I think Care.com is an amazing resource for finding care providers. The site offers free background checks, uses the Mom Force to review all care providers and job posts before we post them online, and gives you access to recorded references and reviews to help you decide who to hire. They also have exclusive members-only features like Care-on-Call (for last-minute care), Care Exchange (to meet families who want to exchange babysitting and pet sitting services). Plus an amazing selection so you’ll be able to find a match that’s right for you and your family. Good Luck in your search.