What Happened the Night I Caught My Babysitter in Bed With...

I started going back to school nights when I was single. Then I got married and had two children. Life was getting busier and busier and so I had less and less time for school. Feeling pressured to finish, I decided to take a 4-hour intensive course one night a week

The problem with this schedule was that my husband had just started a new job and was traveling all the time. So, I needed a babysitter. I asked around, but all my friends had family in the area to care for their children. Nobody used babysitters in our area. Finally, I posted an ad at the local high school.

One girl called about the babysitting position. I met with her and she seemed really nice. I hired her on the spot and told her I would need her every Tuesday night for the next 8 weeks. I mentioned that it would be from about 5:30p.m. until about 10:00 or 10:30p.m. depending on what time I got out of class.

On the babysitter's first night, I explained all the rules and stressed the fact that I did not allow my sitters to have friends over and she said ok. After babysitting for me several weeks in a row, this girl seemed like a great choice. She was always on time and my kids loved her.

One night when I got home, the babysitter told me that her friend stopped by to drop something off to her but didn't stay, and she apologized. I said it was fine and that was that.

A couple of weeks later, I got home only about 10 minutes earlier than I had been getting home and there was a strange car in the driveway. I thought maybe her friend had stopped by again. But, when I walked in the front door, there was nobody around and the house was quiet. I assumed that the sitter and her friend were upstairs checking on the children. When I listened closely to the baby monitor, all I heard were my children breathing and I knew there wasn't anyone else in their room.

Now I began to get a little curious. Suddenly I remembered that one of the rules that I had explained to the baby-sitter, was that I did not allow smoking in my home. So, I thought maybe her girlfriend smoked and they went out on the back deck to have a cigarette. As I started passing through my kitchen heading for the back deck, the guest bedroom door on the other side of the kitchen caught my eye and all of a sudden I realized what was going on.

I called out, "Hello." There was a pause and then a meek little "hello" response came from the bedroom. I didn't know what to do. I was so taken aback, so completely caught off guard. How could this be happening? She was only 15. It couldn't be.....but it was!

It felt like an eternity before the couple emerged from the room. I think I was more upset than she was. My legs were shaking and I couldn't focus or think straight. I just wanted them out of my house. It felt like 100 thoughts per second were flashing through my mind. Maybe they weren't really "doing anything" in there. Why did it take them so long to come out? Should I tell her mother? If only my husband were here, he wouldn't panic like this, he'd know what to do. Did they even check the clock, I was only about 10 minutes earlier than usual?. Could she have heard my children if they needed her? What if one of my kids walked in on them?

The most important lesson I learned that night was to always get references from prospective babysitters in the future and check them! Also, it reaffirmed my reasons for not allowing babysitters to bring friends along. It seems to be a very small step from a girlfriend to a boyfriend.

When I look back now, I wish there had been a service like Sittercity. Sittercity has over 150,000 registered sitters across the country. I wouldn't have been searching for months to find someone interested in babysitting my children.

Many of their sitters have background checks on file and they are ranked according to the results and also by feedback from other parents (here were my references all checked out already). If a caregiver doesn't have a background check on file, you can have one done for a very small fee. I really could've used this babysitting service!

Babysitters at Sittercity have complete profiles so you can check out their interests or find a sitter with similar interests to you or your family members. You can search through their profiles yourself, or post a job and have all available and interested babysitters in your area come to you. I could have saved so much time and I surely would have found a more conscientious babysitter.

The caregivers at Sittercity are serious about their work. They have taken the time to sign up, fill out a profile, some even pay for their own background checks, and do the best they can do to receive fabulous feedback which eventually brings them more jobs.

You have the chance to learn from my mistakes! To find the perfect babysitter in your area, one that really cares, give sittercity a chance and fill in your zip code below just to see who is available in your area. You probably won't find only one babysitter in your town, you'll probably find several babysitters in your town or even right in your own neighborhood!

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What Happened the Night I Caught My Babysitter in Bed With...

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