Well this has been a wild ride. If I thought investigating insurance fraud was a stressful job, that's because I'd never tried to take on the job of watching complete strangers' children before. Good heavens.
First, let me say that in case you've stopped by my site over the last couple of days you obviously noticed that I had made my blog private. That's because in my very early days of exploring the
blogosphere I had put some comments up on a few blogs which included my first and last names. Now, any savvy parent googling a prospective babysitter would happen across those comments and possibly be able to link back to my blog, even though to do so would require someone to then google "view from the short bus" because in those days I didn't even know how to put a link up to my own site and botched the address all to heck.
Heh. Newbies. Anyway, I just decided that I was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of these people going for a ride on The Short Bus and privatized for a few days to get me through the "interview" process.
Which,
omg. The interviews.
Unfortunately, none of my immediate friends and family were in need of a babysitter at the moment, so I was required to put an ad up on
Craigslist for childcare services. I started getting hits immediately and set up a few interviews in my home, the first of which took place on my last day of work, which was a shame seeing as how I couldn't even have a glass of wine when I got home. Decisions like this are probably what kept me out of upper management in the corporate world, eh?
Anyway, Mom #1 comes over with her four year old. Let's just say......not a match. There were some issues there with speech and temper tantrums and attention span that led me to believe that there might have been some developmental issues with this kid. Although, some kids will act up when out of their element so who knows, maybe he's not like that on a regular basis. All I know is that I turned my back for a split second and the kid darted into my kitchen, raided my cookie jar and made off with the mother lode before I even knew what was happening. Then when his mother caught up with him there was a fit. And extreme awkwardness. When the mom emailed me the next day to say she was going to go with a neighbor, I was relieved to say the least.
The following day I had an interview with Mr. and Mrs. By-the-Book and their adorable 2 year old boy. The Mr. seemed fairly relaxed but as this was the first time Sonny had ever been in a child care environment, let's just say that Mrs. was feeling a bit peckish about the whole situation. The way that she was eyeballing my home made me feel like asking her if she'd like a white glove to complete her inspection. She came armed with every question in the book but she saved the best for last when she asked me if we were a Christian household, because this was very important to her. This took me back a bit for several reasons. First, I was happy to tell her that we indeed are a Christian home, but Christians are a diverse people. For instance, my home has a ton of wine-related decor. I used to live in Sonoma County. I have wineries 15 minutes away from where I live now. I love wine country. Love it. I am known to crack open a bottle of wine on occasion. However, when you speak of Christianity and drinking you have on one hand the Catholics, who are liberal with their libations, and then you have the tee-totalers on the other. Of course, maybe it wasn't the wine at all. There's a chance it could have been the Harry Potter and/or Twilight books on the bookshelves. Depending where you stand on the liquor/witchcraft/vampire issue(s), I'm either marching toward the pearly gates or beyond salvation altogether. From the constant look of disapproval on the Mrs.'s face, I can guess which category she put me in. And that's fine. Sometimes Christians are the worst judges of other Christians so it comes with the territory. But I think what bothered me more than that was the fact that she waited to ask her "important question" until after she had spent an hour rummaging through my home and my back yard, pointing out that they were interviewing every in-home service and daycare with an opening right now, going over all of Sonny's stats and dictating all their requirements to me. Now really. I appreciate a thorough parent but something just tells me that this woman would be trouble. The first time I let her kid watch an hour of TV or he came home with a bump on his elbow I'd be in hot water. Is it ok to hope they don't call back?
The third interview was yesterday afternoon with Mr. and Mrs. Normal. Oh, what joy to have a reasonable, delightful couple in my home with their precious newborn! They also had a three year old son at home who would have been a perfect playmate for Logan. I was so grateful to meet some people who were friendly and easy. They exuded the "good parent" vibe without broaching "mother hen" territory. They were complimentary of my home and children and were ready to bring their kids to me ASAP. I was so happy I treated myself to a trip to Costco (which had been off-limits due to our new budgetary restraints..) to celebrate. I stocked up on snacks for my new charges and was ready to go home and crack a bottle of celebratory wine when I got the call. Their current sitter wanted them to stay so badly she is making special arrangements for them. They are going to stay with her. GAH. I wanted to cry.
So? Back on Craigslist last night. Got a call this morning. Another afternoon interview today. If you see my site blocked again tomorrow, now you know why. Just let me get past this phase and I'll be back to my regular Bus Route, okay? Now I'm off to see what you guys have been up to.
Updated: Ok, I went private again. Only this time I added a bunch of people to the "approved" list. Hopefully this won't last long! The interview today went well. We'll see what happens.