Babysitter Woes

Jackson is almost 4 years old, and we have never paid for a babysitter. I signed up for Sittercity and paid the monthly fee to interview potential babysitters. Its like a online dating for parents and sitters.  I had so many responses, and it was a bit overwhelming. I met with four of the fifty that had emailed me wanting the "job", and I liked three of them. That was back in August. It is now January, and I have never used any of them. I have tried multiple times, and they were unavailable every time. I'm very frustrated. A friend of mine recommended  a college girl, 19, who happens to be her daughters best friend. She babysits for two other people that are acquaintances of mine, and they LOVE her. I met with her, and I instantly loved her too. She was so sweet and the boys really did like her. Last Friday night we used her, and I was super excited about it and about the idea of having a great babysitter on hand finally. Jackson was a little under the weather, but I really wanted to make it work for the first time and in the end he seemed okay enough for us to go. We paid her $12 an hour, and we were gone from 6:30-11 PM so we essentially paid her $60. I looked up the average pay for a babysitter in our area for two kids, and this is the norm.

Before I left the house I had typed an entire page of instructions for her. Where we were at, phone numbers, etc. I had made dinner (penne pesto pasta) before we left, and it was sitting on the stove with the lid on. I set out plates, forks and filled their cups up with water. I showed her that Brecken's bottle was in the fridge and showed her the towels on the back of the door for after baths among other things.

I sent her a text at 8:30, and she had said the kids were already in bed and they were great.

When we came home this is what I saw...

1.  The house was clearly a disaster. I am a very tidy person and I don't expect her to clean my house, however I am making a point to say that it was indeed a disaster.

2.  The pot on the stove was still there empty and crusted over with residual pesto and cheese. The boys' plates were completely overflowing with pasta. I made a 1/2 a pound of pasta, which is half of a regular pasta box. Common sense would be that my boys are 1 and 3, and they don't eat like a 200 pound man. But she halved the entire pot of pasta on both plates. Didn't bother to put leftovers in the container I left out for her maybe because there was none since she filled the plates up. All of which were still sitting on the counter.

3.  I told her to give Jack veggie straws while he watched Team Umizoomi before bed. I showed her where the kids plates and bowls were. In that same cabinet we also have tupperware dishes. She got the biggest tupperware dish we have, and I have NO idea how many veggie straws she gave him. I found it in Brecken's room with veggie straws still in it, and I found veggie straws ALL. OVER. THE. HOUSE!

4.  Brecken's bottle was still left in the fridge, unused. :(

5.  The TV room upstairs looked like someone ransacked our house. The cushions, not the throw pillows, the cushions were all cock eyed and some were on the floor and the ottoman was pushed up against the wall where we have our TV hanging AND there were little hand prints completely covering the half the TV. The playroom was untouched with the vacuum lines still visible.

6.  When I went to get Brecken the next morning, his door was locked. Which isn't a huge deal because I had taken off all the door stoppers long ago because the kids put them in their mouths. So if the door hits the wall it usually pushes in the lock. But I am making a point to say it was locked. I got him up, and he was SOAKED. Also, not a big deal  because he pees a lot. BUT when I changed him, his diaper was on backwards. That is actually a difficult thing to do because its awkward while you are doing it. I'm not being unreasonable here. She is a babysitter not a first time dad or grandfather.

7.  Not a big deal, but she didn't use the towels I physically pointed out. She used the towels that I use as decor in the bathroom after baths.

So while some of these are not a big deal and others are and I am completely dumbfounded. I can't help but feel irresponsible for leaving my kids in her care. I met this girl. Kevin met this girl. My good friend recommended her and loves her like her own daughter, AND I had two other people vouch she was a great sitter because she babysits for them. What the heck did I miss, and how can I be more thorough the next time we have someone?

I don't think I'm being unreasonable here. I don't expect someone to even pick up toys, but I do expect someone to follow directions especially when you have hired them. Diaper backwards...BIG DEAL. No bottle....BIG DEAL. Letting the kids bang on the flat screen TV...BIG FREAKING DEAL!!!!! All the other things, while odd, are not a big deal, but altogether I can't handle it. I just wonder what the heck happened in my house! I paid $60.00 for all of that and to feel like I'm a worse mother than 5 hours before. I'm sick about it. What did she do from 8:30, when the kids went to bed, until 11 when we got there? Sit on that disheveled couch? I should have taken a picture of it because its unbelievable anyone could sit and watch TV. But she was upstairs watching TV when we came home and I'm baffled.

I'm sure you can gather that we will not be using her again. So we are at square one again. Yvonne please move down soon!!!