tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998204900912962092.post8395266121833621686..comments2023-10-12T02:33:56.490-06:00Comments on Buried in Laundry: I'm Not A BabysitterQuadmamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12811147214370454309noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998204900912962092.post-20034155775544272332010-06-08T07:32:57.106-06:002010-06-08T07:32:57.106-06:00That's scary! We're starting private swim ...That's scary! We're starting private swim lessons this week and the instructor told me I have to be there to be her second set of eyes for the girls. Ummmm... yeah. It kind of blew me away that she thought I might leave her alone with four preschoolers, but I'm guessing it has happened before if she felt the need to bring it up.Quadmamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12811147214370454309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998204900912962092.post-21026046766094569312010-06-08T07:22:08.426-06:002010-06-08T07:22:08.426-06:00I'm with you on this. Last year we were at a b...I'm with you on this. Last year we were at a bday party and a friend offered to watch my two kids while they were in the kiddie pool with her son. I kept an eye on them as well from a distance, and good thing - Johnny went under and I had run thirty feet, jumped into the pool (nine months pregnant) and pulled him out before the friend realized what had happened. It wasn't that she was being careless; she was interacting with her own child - and when toddlers go under, they do it silently.MaryAnnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13253503049272771754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998204900912962092.post-24976067093771262812010-06-07T14:34:30.999-06:002010-06-07T14:34:30.999-06:00I'm with you. Connor is almost 4 and the twin...I'm with you. Connor is almost 4 and the twins are almost 2, but I am always with them. My MIL has mentioned letting Connor play outside (in the non-fenced in area) by himself and didn't understand why I told her absolutely not. I'd rather be an over-protective mom than have something happen.SarahMariehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00774399201381169907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998204900912962092.post-89951966320550837802010-06-07T11:50:07.530-06:002010-06-07T11:50:07.530-06:00We have more freedom in our backyard. I don't ...We have more freedom in our backyard. I don't feel paranoid if I run inside to put away some laundry, go to the bathroom, etc. But I'm always right back out there to supervise. In the front yard, I don't leave. Too many neighbors speed.Quadmamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12811147214370454309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998204900912962092.post-87850956485547582572010-06-07T10:25:27.820-06:002010-06-07T10:25:27.820-06:00Before we moved to our current home in the woods, ...Before we moved to our current home in the woods, we lived in a typical neighborhood with lots of houses. I think I was the only SAHM on the street, certainly the only one outside with the kids. Other people (grandparents? sitters?) would send their kids out to play with no supervision, and I really felt a sense of responsibility not only for my 2 daughters but the others: playing together well, staying out of the street, etc.<br /><br />I kind of enjoyed it, though, because I bonded with all the kids and felt like I was part of something worthwhile—"It takes a village" and all that. I don't think the other families were deliberately taking advantage of me or anything like that (their kids would have been running around outside whether I was there or not), and I voluntarily stepped up to be the street mom, so to speak, offering popsicles and letting the kids play in our yard with our toys, etc.<br /><br />Oh, Quad: checking the sex offender registry . . . that's a scary thing, isn't it?! So shocking to see how many live around us!Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11117084634845147874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998204900912962092.post-18704012840995658472010-06-07T09:56:21.407-06:002010-06-07T09:56:21.407-06:00Oversight with us depends on where we are. If we&...Oversight with us depends on where we are. If we're at any kind of pool situation where it might be more than a few inches deep (including a "big" and "little" pool) my children are never out of arm's reach. My six year old will jump fearlessly into any pool.<br /><br />If we're in the store or walking down the street or in the parking lot, same goes. If Lee's with Roxy (2) at the park. <br /><br />At home, they get more freedom (and we had a poisoning near-catastrophe with that, though I can't see, even now, how I can entirely preclude it), but they would never play even in the back yard without some supervision and we'd be within arm's reach even in the front yard.<br /><br />Not sure what that makes me.Stephanie Barrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17772217449161603561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998204900912962092.post-70496754543293437192010-06-07T09:07:38.097-06:002010-06-07T09:07:38.097-06:00I check the sex offender registry from time to tim...I check the sex offender registry from time to time, too. When we were buying our house, I told the realtor I had to check the registry before signing any paperwork. I think he thought I was nuts.Quadmamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12811147214370454309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998204900912962092.post-65925283537489342202010-06-07T08:47:28.001-06:002010-06-07T08:47:28.001-06:00I'm with you. The mother in me can't help ...I'm with you. The mother in me can't help but take responsibility for the children around me, and then I end up watching kids whose parents are less vigilant than me. I've frequently stayed at parks longer than I'd like because there are unsupervised children present and I can't bear to leave them.<br /><br />Pools are so frightening to me (my mother's cousin drowned, as well as a child at my employee-provided daycare center - at home) that I don't go unless it's empty or populated by families I know and trust.<br /><br />The one place I feel comfortable with just being myself in public is on my street. My neighbours and I trust each other to watch our children, and have talked about the level of attention we're each comfortable with, and honour that.<br /><br />My husband thinks I'm nutty to periodically check the sex offender registry for local offenders, but I think it's important to keep vigilant.Sadiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04042551936789254047noreply@blogger.com