Calling All Babysitters!

Moms across the globe know that finding good care for your kids can be one of the hardest challenges you'll ever face. And it's not like you only have to overcome this challenge once. It seems that the moment you find a babysitter that actually fits your needs (for me that includes: good with pre-teens and toddlers, can drive and can't be bullied by a know-it-all 9 year old), she takes off to Guatamala or heads off to college. Then you're back to square one.

For us Island moms it can be near impossible to find the right fit—never mind afford it. While there are a handful of responsible high school students, many of them can't drive or don't have access to a car. The 20-something population can be slim pickings in the winter and over-worked in the summer, when you have to pay a near fortune to compete with what they make weeding gardens anyway. 

Is it any wonder that when we do find the perfect sitter, we covet him or her, hide their identities from other moms and guard their contact info with our lives? Sharing babysitting information can be almost unheard of but, you guessed it, we are asking you to do that very thing this week!

Don't worry, you don't have to reveal your super-sitter's identity, but we'd love to hear any advice you have about how to find that Mr./Mrs. Kidsitter-Right.  What resources are out there? Any fantastic ideas on how to cut/share costs without sacrificing good care? What secrets are you willing to reveal?