about babysitting. Okay, I know this blog has turned into my very own little therapeutic gripe session about babysitting lately, but it's gotta come out some time......and what better place than an anonymous online journal?

This morning the lady I babysit for brought the kiddo to my door SCREAMING at the top of his lungs. She said he was upset because she "had to hold him down while in the car because (her husband) left both carseats in the van, which he has at work right now". I'm not sure if she meant that she held him in her lap, or if he was buckled into the front seat and she had to physically force him to sit down and not squirm. My guess is the latter. Uuughh.

This is just what I wanted to deal with while feeling nauseated and exhausted....a child screaming so hard that he could barely catch his breath, and the prospect of being trapped at my house because I have no carseat. Well, I really didn't have plans to go anywhere anyway, but if I did, I'd be outta luck.....or I'd hafta pull a Britney Spears and hold the kid on my lap, which I'm not about to do.

I called the momma's cell shortly after she left to see if she would call her hubby and find out if he could swing by my house and drop the carseat off when his shift is over @ about 8:00 or 8:30 this morning, but it went straight to her voicemail...twice. If I had just dropped my inconsolable child off at the sitter's with no carseat, I'd probably make sure I had my cell-phone on, but that's just me.

I did sort of get a hold of her just now, by instant-messaging one of her co-workers who carpools to work w/ her and is also one of our friends, and asking if she'd relay the message. She said that momma was already planning on calling the hubby to gripe him out and have him bring me a carseat.

So, looks like I really have no reason to complain after all. I'll be getting a carseat within the next hour or so and little man stopped screaming as soon as I let him look inside the freezer and take out a bag of frozen broccoli to play with for a little bit.

This isn't the first time that the carseat was left in another vehicle, but the 2 times it has happened before, momma just brought their "back-up" carseat.....which is is a newborn infant carseat. His legs and head hang off of either side and the belt is too tight for him on the biggest possible setting. I'm sure it wouldn't be the safest seat if we were in an accident....so both days I was stuck with that seat, I opted not to go anywhere.

I know it doesn't seem it (with all of this negative stuff I have to say), but I'm actually great friends with this momma and her husband. They are really fun and kind people....they're just pretty disorganized and that can get irritating when you're in charge of their child.

Labels: babysitting