About 2 weeks ago, we joined C@re.com and posted a babysitting job mainly for Saturday nights after Curly goes to sleep. Totally easy gig, and we got a ton of responses. Some were good, some I could hardly understand, and some were applying for what seemed like a full-time nanny job. We weeded through them and came up with the top 2 or 3. Yesterday we interviewed the first, and she was perfect. Lives 15 minutes away, working on her Masters in social work, has babysat her whole life, including children with special needs, is CPR and first aid certified, gay-friendly etc. Curly and our dog both took to her and we felt really comfortable. We’ve already booked her for this Saturday and one in December. We’re interviewing one more sitter on Wednesday as ‘back-up’ and she, too, sounds lovely.
It feels so nice to have the security of a babysitter now. Up until this point, we’ve relied on friends and our parents. With friends, we don’t want to stay out past a couple hours because they’re doing the sitting for free. Plus it kind of feels a little weird to not be able to hang out with those friends all the time, but then call them up to ask them to babysit…like we’re using them. With our parents, they like to ‘babysit’ Curly when they can hang out with him. To have them come over while he’s sleeping feels mean. So a paid, trustworthy babysitter is a relief to have. Of course, it’s an extra expense so we’ll have to see how it effects our overall budget after a few times.
We are so looking forward to Saturday nights out together and with friends. It’s been much too long since we’ve seen a play or a movie, had a leisurely meal or whatever. I’m just surprised we waited this long to do this!
1 In Vermillion 
Score!
Oh, we really need to get our act together and do this! (though I’ve heard rumours our daycare girls do babysitting at night too). Glad you found someone you all like. Enjoy your nights out, ladies!
nice find! I hope that she works out & she fits in your budget!
that gives me hope! we don’t have family here, so this might be an option for us down the road.
are you guys planning nights w/ friends or just-the-two-of-you date nights?
Smart ladies! We keep saying we are going to do this but never do. Maybe you will give us the kick we need to get out more often 🙂 She sounds great, I hope it all works out!
cindy- Both! New Harry Potter movie this Saturday, and get-together with friends on the 4th 🙂
YAY! That’s great! If you don’t mind me asking, how much are you going to pay her? I’m thinking it’s time to start looking into this option as well. What a relief.
awesome!
jessie- We’re paying $10 an hour, mostly because there is hardly any ‘care’ involved. She just has to be there while he sleeps, and ready to take care of him and call us if there’s any sort of problem. She was perfectly fine with that.
That’s awesome! We’re currently trying to find someone too. I hear you about family. We feel like we overuse our parents for babysitting so we only really go out when it’s something like a wedding or a party we need to go to – never anywhere just for us.
That’s great! I’m so glad you had good luck with that site, we struck out but I think being near a large city is key. Enjoy your nights out!
hey – i just an email from ### (i’m actually not sure how i wound up on their mailing list). anyway, there was a halloween photo and the ladies (and gentleman) looked awfully familiar… 🙂
A saturday night out sounds divine! It is great that you found a sitter you are happy with so you can enjoy some quality time ogether even if it is just a special treat once a month.
Having twins and no family in the area makes me feel like we will never go out likt that again. It’s a lot for one person to handle, especially if they aren’t kid experienced like many of our friends are.
Super-jealous. *sigh*
Guess I should stop whining and follow in your footsteps. How does one afford babysitting on top of night out expenses, though? I have a hard time figuring out how I could possibly get $60 worth of enjoyment out of a movie in a theater. Guess I should just look at it as a mental health tax. 🙂
I hope this worked out!!