wanted: babysitter - must be a relative or someone you know

When I first moved up to the Bay Area I was a single parent to the Meatball who was only six years old. Having moved up here for school, I didn't have much of a support system to rely on. When I had told the Colonel and Rambo of my decision to uproot myself and the Meatball six hours away, they were very worried. Who would help me? Who would watch the Meatball while I was at school? Who did they know up there that can help? My parents scoured their resources to find anyone they knew. Because according to them, for darn sure, I wasn't going to get a stranger!

Growing up I never had a babysitter my parents didn't know already. It was as if the idea of having someone watch your child that was a stranger was the worst thing you could do. The only sitter I ever had was Aling(Ah-ling) Rose. Aling Rose was a kind, older Filipino lady that lived across the street from my elementary school. She had around 8 other Filipino kids that she would watch before and after school at her tiny one bedroom duplex that smelled like smoke (yes, Aling Rose was a smoker, yikes!), fried fish and Ben Gay and had the television blaring all day long.  You could probably guess by now it wasn't the most enriching environment but it was what my parents were comfortable with.

So when it was time to search for a babysitter for the Meatball, Rambo finally found a cousin of his that happened to live in my neighborhood. He called her and arranged everything. I met "Tita" (meaning aunt in Pilipino) one night while my parents were in town to initiate the relationship. It was an odd sort of arrangement because I didn't know her but since my parents did and I was in a desperate situation, I agreed. According to my parents, Tita was to care for the Meatball on the evenings when I went to school. I would drop her off, I would pick her up. Sometimes she would make me food to bring home and we would have quick chats during the Meatball transactions, but other than that, to me, Tita was a stranger. When I would ask the Meatball what she did while at Tita's the answer was always the same, "I watched tv." Great, Aling Rose version 2.0.

Fast forward a couple months later and Tita babysitting was still awkward. I knew I needed to shop for a babysitter. I needed to find someone that would actually care for the Meatball, play with her, help her with her homework and follow the routine I set in place. With Tita babysitting all the structure fell to the wayside, for one she was doing it for free and well that's all the explanation you need really, right? With so much anxiety and borderline paranoia, I logged on to SitterCity for the first time and scoured the babysitters' profiles meticulously, wondering if there were any crazies behind any of these smiling faces.

I can't tell you I found the perfect stranger to babysit the Meatball on SitterCity. But what I did find was of pure coincidence, almost serendipitous. Turns out one of Pretty Pants's friend's sister (say that three times backwards) was on SitterCity! The search was over! In retrospect, I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree,  just like my parents, I'll always try to find someone I know first and then hope for some good luck. Yet unlike my parents, I'll make sure the babysitter(s) actually provide a nurturing experience.