First Babysitter!

Paul and I have been trying to make sure that we have at least one date night every month. One day of just adult conversations, meals at normal paces (though we aren't sure what that means anymore) and, occasionally, and no tantrums.

We are fortunate to have Paul's mom nearby and she watches them whenever we need it. The kids love her, we are all comfortable with her and she loves it. It's a win-win-win! But it takes some planning and we have to drive them and all of their stuff over (and we usually forget at least one major thing). And we would like something closer for just little quick dinners and such. And we haven't done that. It's really nothing to do with the fact that we don't want to leave our kids with non-family. We just don't have anyone around here we would trust. We don't even know of anyone around here that we wouldn't trust.

Anyway, one of my former students got in touch a few weeks ago. We exchanged e-mails and in one of them she mentioned that she babysat. This was very exciting since we now had not only someone but someone I could trust completely. She came over today so we could go out to dinner with friends.

We were a little nervous as to how Jack would handle this--a new person coming over and then us leaving him with her. We weren't so worried about our little social butterfly, Dani. We prepped him all day, telling him that someone special was coming over just to play with him. AND they were going to have pizza! This was a doubly exciting prospect for him. By the time she got there, he was talking about her as though he had known her all his life. At first, he was excitedly shy, peeking around the corner at her as I showed her where things were. He kept popping in and saying, "hi". Dani, as usual, jumped right in, flashing her a big gaping smile and reading out for her while babbling, "Bah=bah=bah!" We stayed for about a half an hour and by the time we left, Jack was kicking the ball around the house and laughing. We said our goodbyes and he barely acknowledged it. He kissed us and said, "Bye-bye, Mommy! Bye-bye, Daddy!" He then waved to us in the window as we pulled away. Part of me was so happy that he handled it so well and that he wouldn't just be a crying mess for the poor sitter. The other part of me was like, "what the heck, kid, don't you love your Mommy anymore?"

When we got back, the sitter said that both of them did great and there were no problems. It was so exciting to know that we now have a sitter option and that our kids will be just fine!