babysitters

I haven't looked into respite care yet. I believe the Firecracker would qualify, but I just haven't had the time to do it -- plus I don't know how useful it would be, since I've heard there's no funding left for it in our state (county?) anyway.

But I do need a babysitter. As my mom wrote to me, "you need time for yourself in order to keep on supporting [the Firecracker] and not neglecting [the Sparkler]."

I've had terrible luck trying to find one on craigslist. Creepy e-mails, incoherent e-mails... the one babysitter I found on craigslist and actually hired turned out to be okay, but just okay, and when we moved a few miles away we both took the move as an excuse to call it off. Last month I tried craigslist again, and came thisclose to hiring a prostitute to be my kids' babysitter. (In the end it wasn't her being a prostitute that lost her the job, but that she was stupid enough to use the same e-mail address writing to me and on her explicit webpage. She charges $150 an hour for those services, by the way, and only $12 for babysitting...)

After that mess, I forked over my credit card to sittercity.com. They're pricey, but I found a great, great, great sitter on there. She comes one afternoon a week so I can have a little break, go to the grocery store, or get some work done. When you're looking for a sitter, you can specify that they need to have experience "Caring for Children with Behavioral Issues" or "Caring for Disabled Children," if you want.

Get a babysitter. You'll all be better for it.