How to Tell You’ve Found a Great Babysitter

October 19, 2008

Saturday night:

• 5:00 PM — Sitter arrives
• 5:10 PM — Carson says, “It’s Riley again?! She’s always here.” But, he isn’t really upset about it.
• 5:30 PM — Leave for an evening of clothes shopping followed by dinner
• 10:00 PM — Arrive home
• 10:02 PM — Head upstairs. Hear a very cheerful, “Hi, Dad!” from Carson’s room. Wander in to chat with him and discover that Riley is a Pokémon expert, based on having a younger brother who was a fan. She has promised to bring over some extra cards next time. Carson can’t sleep just mulling over the overall coolness of this new discovery.

Sunday morning, find:

• Benton lounging in bed working on some new macramé techniques that Riley taught him
• Alana has alternatingly painted fingernails: orange and purple
• The dishwasher has been emptied (wildly not a request/requirement of our sitters)

Riley’s our “regular” sitter — we found her through Julie’s second-cousin, who taught Riley in the third grade in Washington, D.C., and proceeded to stay in touch over the years…including when they both wound up in the Columbus area. She lives too far to practially sit for Julie’s second-cousin, but pretty close to us!

Typically, we go out later, so Riley has the kids post-dinner through bedtime and gets in a little bit of playing primarily with Alana. The earlier departure yesterday meant she had more time with the kids, but we’re still wondering how she managed to get focussed activity with all three of them before bedtime!

Sadly, she’s heading off to BYU after she graduates from high school this spring. We miss her already!

Posted in Alana, Benton, Carson