Because I have the coolest friends in the universe, I’m getting offers of help left and right. For which I am so incredibly grateful. And I thought of something to ask for:
A babysitter list.
We’ve never had a single go-to babysitter who could be on call 24/7. I guess most people don’t. For all our younger kids’ births, I compiled a chart with the various volunteers, and their availability, and their contact info. Availability might include days of the week, hours of the day, “Please call me first” or “Please call me only in emergencies”, dates the volunteer wasn’t availabe (“Not May 15th – 27th”), etc.
Also I put in notes like “can come to house” or “Please drop off at their place”, “needs carseats”. Anything that makes in a difference in whether the person can or can’t help at this very instant.
So then when I went into labor, Jon or I could just go down the list and call someone who was available. While I was in the hospital, he could find childcare without needing me to give him 10,000 suggestions. It worked really well.
***
Anyway, if you have a friend who has kids and some kind of crisis-y situation, that’s a good way to help. Babysitter list.
