Dear Babysitter,
In exchange for a substantial cash payment, here’s what I expect but may not actually say:
1. Be on time. You can’t imagine the intricate coordination it has taken for me to leave the house. Everything is timed with military precision and I am READY to go. I thought the same thing when I was your age and then I learned — a few minutes IS a big deal. If I miss my way-passed-due highlight, there will be hell to pay.
2. If you are going to be late, call or text me. Otherwise, I’m staring out the window panicking that you will no-show. No-call, No-show and like Tony Soprano says, you are dead to me.
3. Refrain from texting while I’m talking to you. Seriously, I’m entrusting you with a generation of my family, I’d like to think that you are paying attention.
4. Play with my kids. Don’t plant them in front of the TV so you can sit on the phone or computer. They get enough of that from me.
5. Keep the house clean. If my house is usually clean when you arrive, that’s because I REALLY like it that way. Plus, that’s the last thing I see before I pay you.
6. Tell me the truth. If you need to leave at an exact time to meet your friends to go out, tell me and I’ll be on time (and if I’m late, I’ll call). If one of the twinfants sky dives out of his high chair, let me know that you forgot to buckle him. It happens to the best of us. I’d rather hear it from you than my four year old.
7. Love my kids. And I will love you. One day, I’ll help you find a “real” job and a husband. And if neither work out, I’ll always take you back.
Love,
The Mildly-neurotic Mom



