Who knew?

Where have all the normal people gone? I ask this because recently we have been trying to find a babysitter for Grady so I could take a day class. Now, back in the day I sat for my fare share of little ones. All of their pre-school friends had babysitters who were just like me. A student who loved kids and wanted to make a little extra cash. Evidently, all of those people have vanished from tha face of the earth, because finding a babysitter has been nothing short of impossible. All we needed was someone to come over for 4-5 hours a week, so I thought it would be pretty easy. I went to several local colleges and hung up fliers, and also advertised in one of their newspapers. I had a few calls that went something like this:

"Hello?"
pause
"hello?"
"......um...I am...you....want...for ...watch...the...babies?"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"...the babies...for you want....how much?"
"I am not selling my baby."
"yes....for me to watch...how much"
"oh, are you calling in reference to the ad?"
"....what?"
"The ad, for babysitting."
"...for BABIES!"
"I'm sorry, it's been filled"
I made new fliers that included the phrase "must speak english well." What would have happened if I told her not to let Grady go in the pool?

Then there was this email
"My mom said I could, but then she said no, and anyway, I need to make like $350 a week, so I don't know if you can do that or not"

Well, no we really can't pay $90 an hour. We were thinking more like $7 (back in the day, I was happy with $5).

Finally, I thought I had a good prospect lined up. Until she called 4 hours before our interview and cancelled due to a family emergency. Now I am not saying she did not have one, for all I know, she did, but as Chris pointed out..."how do we trust that she'll show up for the real job?" Point taken.

ooookkkaaaayyyy....so maybe I need to rethink this. How about daycare. Everyone I called laughed the second I mentioned "drop in" care. There are a few Mothers Day Out programs, but with the waiting lists the way they are, I would be lucky to get my yet-unconcieved second child in by the time they are two. Finally, I found a center that is based out of HCC, where I will be taking classes. Everything seemed great, until she mentioned that the child must be walking before they start. Now Grady's close, but not quite there, so I started thinking of ways I could make it seem like he was walking at home, but not in public. I had just decided "walkaphobia" was probably not real when she said " right now, however, we are full, but you can go on the waiting list".

Night classes, here I come.