How do you find last-minute sitters for your kids? This New-Mommy needs some help… and therapy! Based on this week, finding a decent sitter on short notice involves about 114 phonecalls to friends, colleagues or any other acquaintances who are willing to offer up a sane, warm body to keep my baby alive for a few hours while I squeeze in a half-day of work. The fleeting, fun part of my job is that I get to interview celebrities. The not-so-fun part is the last-minute nature of it… sometimes I’m hired to work the following day at 9pm the night before (like last night). What used to be spontaneous and exciting now puts my problem-solving skills to the test. After countless back-and-forth texts and VMs coordinating schedules (for which I’m expecting to be in big trouble with my hubby when our mobile bill comes) I made it work by the skin of my teeth and found an available sitter for today. That was a close one. I’ll be damned if I’m going to allow a babysitter-search get me down.
Prior to this week, I had 2 sitters that I called upon when LadyP needed a watchful eye. Word to the rookies: TWO SITTERS ARE NOT ENOUGH (even if you’re a freelance/mostly-stay-at-home mom like me right now)! People (even babysitters) sometimes have appointments, other jobs, school, etc. You need 5-10 viable options at all times… find them before that baby arrives! I’m making it work, but I’m learning the hard way. Thanks to friends, family, work, my apartment manager, church groups, social groups, cultural organizations, neighbors with a kid, my doctor, my baby’s doctor, my husbands’ colleagues, etc, I’m slowly building my own personal of armada of go-to babysitters. I’m asking everybody for referrals like a shamelessly desperate jackass. If I was really fabulous, I would’ve done this all ahead of time. Oh well.
All this leads me to a bigger question: Is it worth it for me to go through such stress/chaos/worry just to be covered for a few hours of potential future work that makes me feel like my before-baby self? Yes (within reason). A happy mommy is a good mommy. Let the adventures continue… (but don’t get any wild ideas, LadyP). 🙂
