DINKY

I have no kids - on purpose. As an adolescent & then teen, babysitting wasn't my first choice to make money. Cleaning toilets, mopping the floor and folding laundry had much more appeal. So last week when my friend Dayna asked if I'd help her out with her infant while she put her 2 year old down, while her husband was working, I thought about it, and then agreed. It is my year of doing different and since the last time I babysat I was...(thinking...thinking...) about 15, I agreed.

Let me just cut to the chase - even with the cutest kids in the whole world, having two small beings 100% dependent on you makes my worst day at work seem like a dream. The stress I feel in keeping clients happy is nothing compared to this - and this wasn't really that hard (for me). I just rocked Beckett in his little vibrating chair while Dayna got Carter ready for bed.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for parents who care enough about their kids to not leave them screaming in bassinet, or self-rocking chair, or other modern-day baby care contraption. At the end of the day, I leave work and go to the gym, or out to dinner, or out for drinks and then I go home and get a good, solid 7 - 8 hours of sleep. My new-parent friends get 2 or 3 hours of interrupted sleep and no break at 5:30 p.m. And like the email that recently recirculated about people with pets vs kids, I can lock my four-legged furry kids out of the house (or sell them), but my friends don't have that option.

To sum it up--I love being a DINK, and I have huge respect for my friends with kids.

Life Changing: 1 (no)

Fun: 1 (like a root canal)

Easy to implement: 1 (easy- what parent would turn down free help for a night?)

Worthy of repetition: 1 (see "Fun")

Try This: 1 (I don't know, maybe you already do...)

Cost: 1