Quote: I guess because I AM THE ALTERNATIVE and he does not have a RELIABLE SCHEDULE!!! We have no one else. Parents/friends/family - too far away and have their own lives. I usually have to ask months in advance to get one of them to babysit. And right now, I don't know any teenage girls / babysitters in the area. The daycare lady only does it during the week, not weekends. I've been asking my D7's friends mothers who they use...I've gotten only one name so far.
NM, I am with you on this and have two comments about it (ok, maybe three). First, I understand. In the almost 6 years of having kids, my W and I have gotten a baby sitter twice that was not family. Our family is over 2 hours away so them babysitting is not really feasible. Now, my W and I also share your feelings on daycare and babysitting. Call it paranoid, whatever, we just prefer to watch after our own kids, at least while they're this young. Now, both my boys are in full time school now so it's a bit of a moot point for me but I still understand. Now, comment #2 is that I know for me/us, this lack of childcare and not MAKING IT A PRIORITY has been a TERRIBLE mistake and has contributed in some way to the demise of my marriage. We just never go out. If it's not because we don't have a babysitter, it's because even if we did, it would cost too much but you know what? It really comes down to not making our marriage a priority. There ARE babysitters in our area if we REALLY wanted to find one, and we COULD make the cash available if we really wanted to. Up to now, it was just easier to not do those things. Never again. In fact, I just bought some concert tickets and I am going to get a babysitter for that night. Period. I know it's hard, but I honestly never really realized how important it was. I guess the boys won't die if we leave them for a night.
