The 8 Things Moms Do Before the Babysitter Comes
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Getting a babysitter is simultaneously one of the best and worst things — on the one hand you get a kiddo-free night to spend doing whatever the heck you want, but on the other, leaving your precious babies with someone else for a night can cause a bit of anxiety. Whether you're totally ready to hand your kid over to the babysitter or not, there are a few things that every mom does to prepare for the arrival of the sitter (who is likely a high school girl your kids will think is way cooler than you. And they wouldn't be wrong).
Read through for the eight things moms are guilty of doing before the babysitter rings the doorbell.
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Clean the mess that used to be your house.
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.
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Write down every emergency number you can think of.
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.
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And while you’re at it, you hide all of the dangerous things in the house.
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.
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Compile a short, 13-page outline regarding what your child will need to eat.
Or on the opposite end of the spectrum, take out a box of macaroni and cheese and a pot — dinner is served.
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Get everything prepped for bedtime.
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.
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Take out all the toys you never want to play with so that your kids can get their fix.
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.
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Bribe your children to be good for the sitter so you can have a peaceful night out.
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.”
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Count out how many $20 bills this "peaceful night out" is going to cost you.
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.