The Babysitters Club
So this is what freedom feels like!
Babysitting ahhhhh, helping parents stay sane since the beginning of time.
I never win anything (says someone who’s just won something). “3 hours of freedom from The Babysitters Club”, that was my prize, and what a prize! Except I had no idea what to do with myself.
I hadn’t had 3 hours to myself in the past 14 months, 3 hours is a decent amount of time people!
Our 5 year wedding anniversary was approaching and so after careful consideration and far too much overthinking hubby and I decided that rather than going out to dinner we’ll book in an afternoon and go for a ride up Makara Peak - which is what our Saturday afternoon probably would have entailed pre-baby. I don’t know how we got to the conclusion that this would be a good idea, did I mention I hadn’t exercised in over a year?! Whyyyyyyyy didn’t we opt for massages ha!
Anyway, we don’t have on call babysitters in Wellington (aka good old Grandparents) so the concept of ‘time to ourselves’ was hard to grasp at first and I think we panicked and reverted back to our old ways.
We have wonderful friends here though that are always offering to babysit for us (love you guys!), but unless they turn up at our house and tell us we’re going out and there’s nothing we can do about it, then chances are we’re not going to ask them. And why would I ask them to give up their Saturday night spot on their comfy couch to come and sit on my not so comfy couch for a few hours while I go out and enjoy myself and they…well…I’m not sure what they do. It just doesn’t seem right, or fair!
Asking a friend to babysit always feels like you’re burdening them. And I don’t want to burden my friends - I also don’t wanna have to clean my house before they arrive ha! This is what surprised me most about having Sally come and babysit. I HAD ZERO GUILT!
Sally was AMAZING. She arrived 5 minutes early and as soon as she walked through the door Kora instantly warmed to her with a huge smile and even a wave, so I knew everything would be OK. Sally put Kora down for a nap without any fuss and even tidied up her lunch which was pretty much all over the floor when I left! I returned home to a clean house and a well rested baby - what more could we ask for, honestly!
It’s a totally different experience leaving your baby with a stranger, but you gotta get over it, it’s SO worth it!
We ended up having a great time, and i’ve used The Babysitters Club twice since even!
Georgia who runs The Babysitters Club is the coolest chick and ultra professional. You can literally call on them at the drop of a hat. Every Sitter is police-checked; reference-checked and interviewed plus you can check out all the sitters online too and get a feel for who they are before they come sit for you.
The book process was really simple and all done online (they have a fancy new app now too!). You book a sitter, they confirm, they come. That’s all there is to it. The starting rate is $22 p/h for 1 - 2 children.
If you’re keen to give them a try and do something fun without feeling guilty, you’ll find a coupon for 1 FREE HOUR of babysitting from The Babysitters Club in your copy of The Coolest Little Coupon Book. Pre-order for 2018 now.
Ange x