Another use for a vacuum cleaner

We came home to find our baby sleeping soundly in a baby swing with the vacuum cleaner perched next to her, turned on and whirring.  Apparently the loud drone worked like Ambien for our colicky three month old.  Who knew?

John and I hadn’t been out together after our baby was born, but our friend and neighbor Kate insisted we have a date night. It was years ago, a distant blur now and I don’t even know where we went or what we did, but just getting away from the 24/7 job of taking care of little ones, was a breath of fresh air for me, a tired mother and my weary first year lawyer husband. 

We don’t typically live as close to our relatives as we did in years past - with parents next door and siblings down the street.  So friends who say, “You two need to get out.  I’ll babysit,” are precious gems. 

I remember another time when an old college friend was moving from Connecticut to Boston.  He had started his job in Boston and was looking for housing for he and his family.  Craig stayed with us during this interim period and kindly offered his expert babysitting services.  While we were out, one of our daughters, who looked quiet and demure, hysterically shrieked, “Go away Egg!!!” while he patiently tried to get her to sleep.  The stories of Kate and Craig’s one-on-one time with our colicky baby and our sassy two year old are now part of our family lore.  

In this economy, nights out might be one of  the first things we cut out of our budgets.   Dinner and a movie can easily cost $100 and add four hours of babysitting to the mix and you’re in the ballpark of $150 for a simple evening out – at least in the Boston area.    One solution for the babysitting expense could be to do an occasional swap with friends. 

I’ve even heard of more formal babysitting cooperatives where people who opt in are given co-op currency (lets say purple pipe cleaners).  Everyone who joins the co-op gets a dozen purple pipe cleaners to start.  If you drop your two kids off at another person’s house, you pay them one pipe cleaner for each child and multiply the number of kids per hour.  For example, two children for two hours would cost you four pipe cleaners.  It’s an efficient way to get some time for a weekly date night or a trip to the grocery store or nail salon sans kids.  When you’re low in pipe cleaners, it’s time to say yes to the next babysitting gig. 

Babysitting can be a fantastic way to bond with the children of your friends and to provide a much needed and appreciated service to fellow parents.  Time spent nurturing your marriage will always be well worth the effort.   And even if you come home to the whirring sound of your vacuum cleaner or hear the mortifying story of your two year-old sassing your old college friend, most likely, you’ll laugh about it years later….