The girls had a babysitter...

and when it was all over she said she would be willing to come back again! We hired our first babysitter here in Michigan. Kelsey, a 17-year-old from church, came over last night and kept the girls for a couple of hours. I had a PTA meeting to go to, and Dustin had his regular Monday night meeting with the elders. Our PTA has babysitting provided (by a teenage boy who watches them all in the gym or art room), but I wasn't too comfortable with that. And even if I felt okay with it for Macy, there's no way I could send Bailey. And we all know she's not really good at sitting in my lap and being quiet for an hour-long meeting. So we were wondering what to do, when...

Saturday at the church picnic, Kelsey told me that she likes to babysit. She has lots of experience with kids of all ages. She's a junior in high school and goes for a couple hours each morning. Then she goes to a tutoring center and works with kids who are behind/learning disabled for a while. After that she goes to another center and works with babies who have developmental delays. She is also taking a class on child development at that center. I was very impressed when I learned all of this about her! She's also kept Bailey in the nursery at church before and did a good job with that. She came highly recommended by a few ladies at church, as well.

So we decided to ask her to keep the girls last night for us, and it all worked out great! The girls were so excited that she was coming and kept asking how much longer until Kelsey would be here. They really seemed to bond with her right away. Kelsey even came with her own little bag of tricks to use while she was here. She brought books, crayons, 1st grade workbook (for Macy), a wooden puzzle, 2 Color Wonder books & markers (Disney princess), and snacks!! I was so surprised. She said her mom always buys stuff for her to take when she babysits. The girls thought that was really cool, and couldn't wait for me to leave so they could have one of Kelsey's snacks! Everyone had a lot of fun, and Kelsey said the girls behaved really well. (I was a little nervous that they would be too wild and fussy and make the night miserable for her. So I was really happy to get a good report when I got home.) They all followed the rules/instructions I left and they didn't destroy the house. It was a true babysitting success!!

J