The Wonders of Babysitters

I made a discovery today... The Wonders of Babysitters!

I mean, I'm no idiot - I know what babysitters are and what they do, I just hadn't actually *used* one before.

But today I did.

And... wow. It was awesome!

J, Jordyn's nanny/babysitter person, came over today for three hours, for another session of orientation and the two of them getting to know each other. And unlike Saturday, I actually left the house.

I didn't even do anything interesting (I got my eyebrows waxed, browsed in a store I pass all the time but had never been in, went to the ATM, and grocery shopping), it was just really cool to leave the house - on my own - get a few things accomplished, and then go home, to find Jordyn safe, happy, and excited to see me. :)

And then when I got home, J kept Jordyn occupied so I could put away the groceries, fold a load of laundry, and <gasp!> actually put it away as soon as it was folded!

This was the first time I'd ever left Jordyn with anyone other than my parents or my sister. I was a little nervous (although it was kind of easier to leave than I thought it would be), but it was fine. And I even resisted the urge to call and check in - I mean, I was only gone for 2 hours, and J knew she could call me any time.

Of course, one of the things I did when I was out was go to the ATM so I'd have money to pay J for both Saturday and today. Ugh. Yeah, this babysitting thing is going to cost me a fortune! But, I daresay I think it's going to be worth it! I was able to get some errands done without having to drag Jordyn along, and she was truly fine being at home with the sitter for a couple of hours. And seeing how excited she was to see me when I got home was priceless!

And this all happened in the morning, so we were able to spend the whole rest of the day together, so I didn't feel like I missed out on too much of "my" time with Jordyn.

I realize this post is a far cry from my last one, when I was feeling sort of weird/bad about the whole nanny thing, and feeling more of the negatives about it. But today my dad came to the vet with me, so I didn't have to wrangle the baby and the dog at the same time (and of course Jordyn ended up sleeping through the whole thing), and then he came over to hang out for a little bit. I'm feeling less bad about having hired a nanny when he wasn't thrilled about the idea - maybe because it doesn't seem like he's really upset about it? I dunno. But regardless, I'm feeling more positive about the whole thing. I think seeing J prove herself capable of keeping Jordyn safe and happy for a couple of hours without me around has made all the difference. Now to see if she can handle bedtime...!