I met with a potential babysitter today. I have left little R with other people, but they were all close relatives. This will be the first time leaving her with a stranger, and the first time that I've left her since we moved to Singapore (except with her father, but I don't think that really counts). I actually got this woman's number two weeks ago, but felt so apprehensive about calling her (even though she was highly recommended) that I put it off for days. Finally I womaned up and arranged a meeting.
She seems really nice: perfect, in fact. She is 24 (so old enough to be responsible), well-educated (just got her MA, in mediation=psychologically aware), and taking some time off to be with her family and figure out what to do with herself (so flexible schedule). She went to school in the US, so she speaks perfect English (with an American accent) and is familiar with American culture. She also seems very comfortable with children and played quite happily with little R, even though the situation was kind of awkward (since I was there the whole time watching her).
We are leaving for a two-week trip to the US in four days, so the first time she will babysit is Sept 16th. I hope it goes well. Even though she seems so perfect, I still feel nervous about it. Little R is so small and vulnerable. I always thought people who got nanny cams were insane, but now I understand (and kind of want one, silly as that is).
We just had a babysitting fiasco. After googling someone who seemed perfect we found out that she enjoyed recreational drugs a little more than we liked (she talked about it all over the internet). But since we've found two other sitters we like and got good references on.
ReplyDeleteWe DID tape record one of them that we found through an ad. Just on the first time. My husband listened to the tape (he said it was really sweet) and I felt too weird to listen. But we can now trust her and will definitely use her again.
We had a horrible experience with a nanny who totally disregarded our instructions so we realize we can't TRUST someone to follow them to the T.