Zookeeper for a Day

As one might imagine, I have a rather difficult time finding babysitters for my wild animals. Fire and knives aren't for everyone, I get it but alas, everyone needs a break- even super duper cool moms. I have a few Good Samaritans that always come to my rescue and I am very blessed to have them in my life. There is always someone there in case of an emergency and for that I am grateful. The trouble I have is the occasional need for a date night. Having special needs children can take its toll on the parent, the family and the marriage. All couples need time alone and couples who share poop duty for more years than originally contracted need extra time away.

Occasionally, I just like to have a good time with my other half without having to carry someone on my shoulders just to walk alongside him.  Other times, I need to be whisked away and reminded that while I spend my days speaking foreign languages, crawling around rubbing my knees raw and shoveling the clean up, I am still a woman and I can behave like one. Heck, I can even comb my hair and have a clean shirt for more than five minutes! For moms like me- we consider a hot meal, eaten while it's still hot right up there with the honeymoon. Add someone else to do the dishes and we've been proposed to all over again.

I won't lament over the struggles I've encountered in securing sitters. Oh wait, yes I will. Not to complain but just to keep things real. The younger ones are barely older than my Rhino (awkward first date, hey how'd you guys meet? Oh, she was my babysitter... ) and the older ones who can take a hit usually have lives of their own and laugh in the face of my meager offering. And let''s face it, you can't leave your greatest treasures with just anyone. Now if the fire department offered babysitting- I'd be all set.

I'm thinking the Jetson's had it all figured out. If Rosie the Robot ever came out on the market, I'd be all over that like ketchup on fries. Maybe even Alice from the Brady Bunch. She could do the cooking, cleaning and occasional tending while I wore stylish clothes and worried about what child didn't make it in the school play.
An extra few hands would always be helpful, especially if it was written in the script when they helped and when they left you alone. Truth is, I don't want a live-in anything. I just want to be able to date my husband!

So, I'm going down the list of victims and running into roadblocks. I finally reach a number where everyone is actually at home and two sitters are available, though one is a little timid of Tigers and Rhinos. Success is had and I can plan my date night. But first, I must go clean the floor.  Oh, the irony. Whilst I was on the phone enticing a brave soul to be zookeeper for a day, Tiger was in the pantry filling his shirt up with sugar... while he was still wearing it. I'm not quite sure what thrill he was going for there but now we all know that 15 lbs of sugar is about how much it takes to completely fill two sleeves. But like I was saying, I just don't understand why I have a hard time getting babysitters...