A while ago I placed an ad for child care in the local papers. It was somewhat surprising to have received only a handful of calls when all the daycare providers in the area stated that they “turn new families away” every day. I anticipated a deluge of calls the moment the paper came out.
Instead, I received two.
Both families were available to meet with me on the same day so I spaced the meeting times far enough apart so as not to
interfere with one another. Also, I knew how much work it would take to prepare my home for guests. (Like removing year old fingerprints from the walls without repainting like I normally do.)
My sweet children and I cleaned and organized to the point where I could have comfortably invited the folks from “Better Homes and Gardens” over without fearing they would find a half-eaten peanut butter sandwich from 1992 stuffed in the cushions of my well used couch.
But neither family showed up and neither family called to say they wouldn’t be showing up. We waited, staring out the window at the road like children waiting for Santa to arrive on Christmas eve, for hours.
A few weeks later I placed another ad. It produced only one call and it was from one of the families who didn’t bother to show up last time. Having learned my lesson, I gently stated that I would be neurotically cleaning scheduling my day around her arrival so if for some reason she could not make our meeting, I would appreciate a phone call. She enthusiatically agreed that she would call if something came up. “Friday at 2 PM would be perfect!”
Motivating my children to help me prepare for “an event” is not difficult. I have really excellent children who seem to thrive on deadlines and goal setting. This morning when I told everyone we needed to get cleaning, they joyfully pitched in and worked really hard. Around noon we had everything shiny clean! I promised them Dairy Queen treats for their efforts and asked one more favor:
“Could you please, PLEASE be playing ball together as she pulls in the driveway?”
At 1:45 PM they headed out with the mission of making my daycare home seem like a scene from Norman Rockwell’s village. At 2:05 PM they started to complain of muscle cramps. At 2:20 PM they realized that we had been stood up yet again by this thoughtless wench obviously busy woman.
Now, it is nice to enter the weekend with a well cleaned, sweet smelling home. However, this whole thing does leave me wondering if maybe God isn’t trying to tell me something.
Like maybe I should just keep up with my cleaning so that it’s not such an ordeal every time this happens. Or maybe I shouldn’t try to give the false impression that I run a spotless home. Whatever the case, my children are getting LARGE DQ treats because, in my opinion, they deserve a month of sundaes.
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August 17th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Unfrickenbelievable.
These people didn’t catch wind of your police record did they?
August 17th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
If she calls again, tell her you cannot meet her until you get a permit from your probation officer. You might say not to get alarmed because what happened was an unfortunate accident.
August 18th, 2007 at 10:17 am
There is just too much fun to be had with her IF she calls again. My guess, she probably goes thru a lot of sitters; probably stiffs them their $$ in the same way. You may be better off in that regard.
As far as DQ, I’ll take a hot fudge shake please; they moved out of our area, shortly after my addiction to that there shake. Jerks!
August 20th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I’m thinking maybe God is telling you that with 7 kids of your own to take care of, you have ’nuff to do!!! I know that’s what I think, anyway!!! Love—Lois