We've had a babysitter for a year now. My kids are 5 and 2, and love her. She is 10 years older than me and has kids of her own - I've met her family, been to her church, and have been happy with her thus far.
She came over to babysit while I went out for dinner with a friend last night. When I left, we had agreed that she would cook rice and vegetables for the kids, and they would go to the park. I returned a little early and found an extremely, extremely messy house. Candy was everywhere, juice had been spilt on the floor in several rooms and had attracted dirt (it didn't just happen, had been there for a while). I noticed that the dishes from lunch were still in the sink, and no dinner had been cooked.
When I asked the babysitter about it, she said the kids didn't want to eat rice and veg, and so they went to the store and bought candy and chips with the money always leave behind for emergencies. Then they went to the McDonalds and had TWO icecreams each. They had also been at the stationary store and bought glue and bracelets made of elastic bands in the shape of animals. By the time I got home, it was already past bedtime and too late to eat a real dinner, plus the kids were full up from all the candy.
The babysitter normally comes once a week during the day, and DD and I are usually finishing our lessons when she arrives (we homeschool). I have also noticed that she has a tendency to interrupt us while we are learning.
And one more thing - a few weeks back, DS and I had gone out together while DD stayed with the babysitter. At night, I asked her how her day went and she started crying, saying that the babysitter had called her "no good" and said that "only Little Brother was a good boy". I know that DD was probably behaving in a challenging way, but this is not an appropriate way to respond!
The thing is that my kids absolutely love her, and would miss her dearly if she wouldn't come anymore.
I'd love some input.
