Babysitting
So, my one year-old is home with me. I'm a work from home mom. This means that sometimes, when she naps, I'm able to work uninterrupted. At other times, when she is roaming around, she gets frustrated that I'm not paying enough attention to her and turns off my computer. She is fully aware of what she is doing, I am convinced. Or, she grabs the mouse, or clicks random buttons on the keyboard. Sometimes, she does her own thing, like practicing learning how to walk, or "reading" a board book, or eating. But, other times, she needs and wants my attention. And the little that I give her is probably not enough. So, I'm contemplating, like I have for about 6 months now, sending her to a babysitter. I love being with her, and I love having her with me. But I also need to work. The question is if I can rearrange my day to be able to give her my attention at certain times, and work at other times. Sometimes, for example, I get work in the evenings that I do when the kids are asleep already. If that happens, I can choose to work less hours the next day, possibly, and be with the daughter in the afternoon when she's awake. Especially since once the older one gets home at four, I'm paying less attention to younger girl. But, my work is inconsistent... so whenever I have it, I do it. So, back to the question - maybe it would be better for the younger girl to be with a babysitter, at least for a few hours a day. Maybe if her nap can be moved to the afternoon, and she goes to a babysitter in the morning, things can work out okay. Except that I wouldn't be spending the time with her, really, if she's sleeping the whole time she's home... Well, after Pesach, she'll definitely be going to a babysitter, anyway. We'll have a new baby around, and I won't be able to work at all if there are two of them here... I'm tempted to just put off the decision until then. The feeling of her coming over and leaning on my leg as I work, or smiling at me, or seeing her try her walking is just something I don't want to give up yet right now. I want to savor these last few months with her. Let's see.
posted by SS @ 5:33 AM
2 Comments:
wow, this situation sounds exactly like one of my babysitting jobs. The baby girl is one years old and the mother wants to work so she asks me to come over and watch her baby while she works in the basement, or she goes into work. Now the baby I babysit for is very attached to her mother, and she cries when she's with anyone else. I've been babysitting her for months already, once a week or so and the baby still cries when she's with me. So you have to know what type of baby yours is, if she's too attached to you then it will be hard on the babysitter. So if you plan on sending her to one later on then she should get used to people. If the baby is a good baby and she's fine with other people then your really lucky! Even if you send your baby to a babysitter you'll be with her shabbos and Sunday. It will make it easier for you cause you will be less tired out, so the time you do spend with you baby will have more quality to it.
Good Luck with your decision!
Right. I know that I don't want to have someone with her in our house while I'm here. This, in my opinion, is not a good arrangement for any mother and child. The child becomes confused - why is Mommy here, but not paying attention to me? It's worse than bringing them somewhere else, where they cry at first and then calm down. Like you said, if she's in the house with me and a babysitter, my feeling is that she will cry if I'm not paying attention to her. Any kid would, if that was the situation on a regular basis.
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