| Tuesday, February 24, 2009 |
The Cult Leader |
It didn't strike me until I was speaking at Holy Cross a few months ago how hard it is to raise kids when your family lives far away from you. Sure, I knew that, but I had never really stopped and reflected about how different my life would be if we had grandparents or siblings nearby. The fact of the matter is that we don't, and in addition to wanting family around because we love them there is one thing that we majorly lack: babysitters.
When we first had our older son (OS), we had a great teenage babysitter who lived next door to us. Even better, her grandmother lived with her family so there was always an adult at home. She was great with OS, reliable, and we didn't have to worry about any awkard situations with the Big Giraffe driving a teenage girl sitter home. I would walk to the end of the driveway and make sure she made it to the door safely. Fortunately, but unfortunately for us, she went off to college.
Not to worry, there was another teenage babysitter who lived two doors down from us. She was also great, and again I could just walk to the end of my driveway to see her home. Her parents are really nice people and one time when the sitter was running late, her dad sat for OS. I still remember when he walked into the house, saw OS watching Teletubbies, and asked him which one was Rudolph. OS thought it was hilarious. Her best friend also sat for the kids and while she didn't live next door, she had her own car and drove herself. Much to our dismay, these sitters also went off to college. They apparently felt no guilt at moving on with their lives and leaving us in the lurch. I'm not sure why they chose a quality education and the chance to live on their own over periodically babysitting for our kids.
It was around that time that we were trying for our younger son (YS). Between the lack of babysitters for date night or to watch OS during my ob/gyn appointments, I felt compelled to make a move. I decided to join a babysitting co-op or, as I called it, a babysitting cult. For a group of laid back moms, the application form was enough to scare anyone or at least me off. First you had to be referred by a member, then you had to do accept a sit or offer to do a sit within a specified period of time. You received tokens which were the currency which you earned for sits and paid for sits. If you were under a certain number of tokens, it was bad, and, if you were over a certain number of tokens, it was also bad. Cutoffs and formulas were all clearly stated. I haven't even mentioned the mandatory playdates. Plus you had to give them money. See, total cult. Alright so it was only a dollar a year...one dollar, a million dollars, who's really keeping track?
As much as I like to mock this cult, I really have enjoyed being part of it. When the coordinator needed to step down for a small move from Massachusetts to Sweden, I agreed to take over if no one else wanted the position. I only have to keep track of playdates, tokens, and annual dues. Basically it involves being on the computer, and I know this may come as a big shock, but as a blogger I do on occasion find myself in front of one. Thus, I can now proudly declare that I have fullfilled one of my personal dreams I never knew I had: I am a cult leader.
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: You can be anything you want to be.Labels: Humor (at least Attempted), Mom-Care |
posted by Alex Elliot @ 6:20 PM   |
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I have to say that the last thing I expected was for you to say you had become the leader! It does sound a bit like a cult but also like a really good thing :)