Denial is not a river in Egypt. I’m a stalker. You see, I make it my business to continually be on the hunt for quality babysitters. You have to maintain a strong bench because inevitably babysitters grow up, go to college, get married, have children of their own, get real jobs with health benefits, etc. Thus, my babysitter radar is always on. I like to focus my stalking efforts on places where my children have activities. I spend half of my waking hours with these activity leaders/teachers – VBS volunteers, gymnastics teachers, swim coaches, camp counselors, dance instructors, etc. All of this quality time means that I get to know these people really well. It’s like I’m interviewing them the whole time and they don’t even know it. The bonus? These places have already done the background check! All of the necessary ingredients are present for a babysitter bonanza! Here are some locales where I’ve “stalked” out a babysitter.
Gymboree Play & Learn
My son and I took classes here for nearly a year (and my daughter for 2 years prior to him). I got to know the staff very well. You have to love babies and toddlers if you work here, right?
Little Otter Swim School
We’ve been a fixture here for the past 2 years. My daughter has ADORED her 3 swim instructors who are in college or recent college grads. Of course, my babysitter radar goes wild in this place!
Foxcroft East Swim & Racquet Club or “FXE”
Since we started daily swim practice in mid-May, my babysitter radar has been going nuts everytime we pull into the parking lot. Bonus: these potential sitters could actually take my kids to the pool.
Charlotte Nature Museum, Summer Camp
My daughter loves her some bugs, habitats and anything related to animals. This is her 2nd year of summer camp there and she’s had the same counselor for both years. They have bonded over turtles, lizards and bird nests. Primo babysitter material!
Vacation Bible School (VBS, baby!)
It’s that time of the summer, Smarties, and VBS is in full effect! Tons of volunteers from the church make VBS possible and many are high school or college age.
Pre-School
I have not babysitter stalked at my pre-school yet but have friends who have had great success sourcing babysitters and overnight nannies from their pre-school teaching staff.
Babysitters play an integral role in our childrens’ lives and in our lives! Our college babysitter is home for the summer and our entire fam is just thrilled! Smarties, do you have a favorite babysitter or any babysitting tips/stories you care to share?
3 comments
As a FTWM, daycare is a great place to find babysitters. The teachers adore the kids and they often babysit outside of work! And I have said it before and I’ll say it again, I am in hog heaven with care.com. Plus, summer is great because so many CMS teachers are looking to make money over the summer and they are fantastic babysitters!
I’ve got one college sitter for the summer and when she’s not available, I ask her to see if her friends are. We finally have a (short) roster of babysitters!
I am a preschool teacher that sits and also run a sitter referral service. One call to me with your needs and I have 20 sitters who can fill the job….ask around a smarty know me….