The time has come--I'm ready to think about going out at some point and leaving Boden in the care of a babysitter (gasp!). So, in the event that I progress to actually planning to go out, I've been asking around to find a "good" college girl who is highly regarded in the mom community, perhaps considering a career as a nun or saint, and already vetted by a friend. So far, no qualified candidates have presented themselves.
It's not that I think I'm the only qualified person to take care of my son--in fact, I can provide a neverending list of people who are probably MORE qualified than I am to take care of my son. However, I know how things will be if I'm taking care of him--I know his cries, know when it's okay to let him cry, know that I would never hurt him, know that if he starts to choke, I know what to do, know that for the most part, nothing bad has happened to him on my watch. And, most importantly, I have that finely tuned "mom sense" and can "see" danger before it happens; which means, I can act preventitively to avert potential head gashes, broken limbs, dog bites...etc.
As a young teenage babysitter and constant worry wart, I had a pretty good "artificial" mom sense when I was on duty, years ago. But I don't think all teenage girls have this, which is why I'm honing in on a college girl (yes, I am gender discriminating--teenage boys are loose cannons. Irresponsible at best. I should know--I live with a former teenage boy.). I don't know how I'm going to weed out the good girls from the bad and how many I'll have to "test" out before we score a winner, but I'm not looking forward to the process.
When I ask for advice on this topic from friends who have been through this, I get the same response I do for many things--"you'll get through it." Well, duh. Of course, I'll get through it. I'd like to get through it without loads of anxiety, an ulcer, and traumatizing experiences for Boden.
One colleague did recommend care.com as a resource--she used it to score a nanny. I checked it out and it was like a singles site, but for nannies and babysitters (and pet sitters, too). I sifted through a lot of profiles and pictures and made up stories about each one which included details of why they were unfit to sit for Boden. Why isn't there a nice, dependable, responsible, single, nerdy, young gal living in my neighborhood?! (i.e. a "me" 18 years ago)
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