Adventures in Babysitting

I didn't forget to tell you all that my husband and I partied hard for Halloween, I've just been too busy to tell you. We went out with a friend of ours, Andi, who did the footwork of finding a sitter for her daughter and ours. It was a rainy Halloween night, but we didn't let that stop us from donning costumes and hitting World Cafe Live.

The phone call Daddy received just as we sat down is the one parents dread. The sitter called to say that Tallu had been crying unconsolably, and she didn't know what else to do. My initial reaction was "Oh, fuck, are we gonna have to leave?!" My second thought was "Aren't we paying you do deal with her? Work it out, lady!" Daddy gave suggestions, and a half hour later she texted to say that Tallu was not sleeping, but much more calm.

We three parents had fun, but when we got back to Andi's house after midnight, who was up, crying, tired, and refusing to sleep? Tallulah! Andi's daughter went to sleep, but Tallu wouldn't (now the poor child was up because ours was noisy). The sitter kept her calm and occupied, reading stories, playing with toys, amd generally avoiding the front door, which set our kid off.

Having said all this, the sitter was unphased by Tallulah's behavior, and complimented us on her language skills and playfulness. She said she just needs to get to know a sitter and perhaps be in her own house, and she'd be fine at night. We still have her number in our address book, just in case....

The next two times we've gone out we've let the little one with our mothers. Tallu knows and loves these ladies, and knows the houses. The sleep issue is the same. She eventually did go to sleep, but at some unholy hour. I guess the solution would be go out more often so that she knows it's okay to sleep without us...