What I want...

Consider yourself lucky if you find yourself in a position to have a babysitter for a date night, a day to get your hair done, a few hours to go to Target solo or just for an hour to drive down the street for a nap . A babysitter sounds like the golden ticket to mother happiness. You’re constantly knee deep in kids’ needs and activities that a little you time would be just the ticket, right? Problem is the Mom guilt consumes you and often times consumes the joy that comes with your time away. Then you step back and think did I really just pay someone x amount of dollars so I could experience twice that time stressed and anxious? Here are some things I’d love my babysitter to say to me:

I can handle a tantrum with ease and they don’t scare me at all.

Toddlers have meltdowns, I know that and I assume anyone watching them knows that as well, but in my head I want them to be perfect angels because I don’t want to cause problems for the sitter. I also know this is an unreal expectation. It’s a possibility that they might not throw a fit because the sitter gives them a green cup when really the apple juice taste better out of the blue cup, but I would place my money on the cup meltdown happening. Someone who reassures me that they don’t care if a tantrum happens and reassures me that they can handle them easily is a special gift from above.

I’ve got a great activity to do right off the bat so that way it will be easy for you to get going.

A sitter doesn’t need to come in the door with a Mary Poppins bags of tricks & tricks and in fact they don’t have to bring anything at all, but a plan to do something my kids love right off the back makes things so much easier for me when I have to leave. Often times I feel like I need to pull out bubbles, a craft, cupcake ingredients and a balloon artist all to get the kids excited to hang with the sitter. A sitter who comes in and gently (nice and easy approach works best for my crew) asks them if they want to go outside, make a fort, color or play dress up makes things so much easier to bounce. It’s so nice to be loved by your kids (that’s what I tell myself every time they cling to me as I try and leave), but on the days/nights when there is a sitter I want them to 100% be more interested in playing with the sitter than where Mommy is going.

Bedtime doesn’t scare me

Most of the time I try to come back before bed time because it’s too exhausting to explain how to put three kids to bed at the same time so I’d rather just come back and do it. I would love someone to just tell me to stay as late as I want (which is about 9 pm in all honesty). I want someone that says whatever the bedtime routine I can handle it. Tell me it’s no big deal and mean it. Reassure me.

I’m not judging you.

I know it sounds silly but sometimes I’m so concerned that the sitter is going to judge the amount of screen time we allow or the lack of veggies my kids will eat or even the amount of times mac & cheese is served in our house. I know these feelings are caused by the jacked up hamster running my wheels upstairs and something I need to figure out, but a sitter that tells me it’s all good might help the hamster get on the right track.

Enjoy yourself, I’ve got this.

Seems silly, but the more I hear it, I might just actually enjoy myself.