The 8 Things Moms Do Before the Babysitter Comes

OK, so you shove a bunch of stuff in the hall closet and under the bed — still, you don’t want this high school kid to think you don’t at least kind of have your life together. The kids’ playroom, though, that’s another story.

If you’re leaving your first child with a babysitter, chances are you’ve jotted down everything from their pediatrician’s office to poison control. If it’s not your first rodeo, you probably still have those numbers on a browning piece of paper that every babysitter before has handled — and you still pray just as hard that they’ll never be dialed.

Knives, matches, cleaning supplies, curling irons. Anything you can lock up for your own sanity (because you know your kids are trouble with a capital "T"), you will.

Or on the opposite end of the spectrum, take out a box of macaroni and cheese and a pot — dinner is served.

Because you want to make the sitter’s life the tiniest bit easier — you know what your kids can be like before bedtime and it’s the least you can do.

Legos, Bunch ‘Ems, Play Doh, kinetic sand — everything you never want to play with because it’s either a mess, grosses you out, or is hard to clean up is totally fair game for the sitter. They’re likely young and energetic and have far more patience than you.

You’ll promise them anything from an ice cream outing to a sleepover if they’ll just behave for the sitter. The last thing you need is to have to come home early or spend dinner with your friends texting with the sitter about whether or not your kids are lying when they say they're “allergic to baths.”

Are you really about to pay $20 an hour to pop open a $10 bottle of wine and watch Netflix on your best friend's couch with takeout pizza just for a bit of peace and quiet?

You bet your ass you are.