[sak9645]

When I am working full time, I use a driving babysitter to pick my daughter up at school; I am able to drive her in the morning. She is in a private school in the next town, so walking is not an option, and there is no direct bus. Traffic is extremely heavy, especially on the Interstate that is the best route, during the morning commute.

I have always chosen mature women -- no high school or college students -- with clean driving records and safe cars. In all cases, they have been 30+, married, and working as a nanny or babysitter for more than 5 years. Foreign-born, they all spoke good English and were either U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. These women have picked Becca up at school, brought her home, and stayed with her till I returned. If she had an activity or play date, they took Becca to it and brought her home. In some cases, they made her dinner or heated up what I had made previously. They supervised homework, played games with Becca, and so on.

Mature driving babysitters of this sort are not cheap in our area. In 2002, for example, the price was $12 per hour, minimum. I recently heard that the 2006 rate is at least $14 per hour.

They are also hard to find. An ad in the paper yields dozens and dozens of callers, but the vast majority haven't read the requirements and do not qualify. I interview fewer than 1/4 of the people in person, and yet still wind up ruling out most of them. I check references on two or three, and finally come up with the one I will hire.

But I will say that I have been very, very lucky. The people I have used have all been fabulous. They have been loving, have used excellent judgment, have made Becca part of their families and taught her about their cultures (Indian, Brazilian, Peruvian), and so on.

We currently live in a very Chinese neighborhood, and I would be thrilled if I could find a Chinese woman, this time around. My daughter, who is from China, has started attending Chinese school this year on Sunday afternoons, and could use some practice with speaking and writing. She also goes to a Jewish day school, where Hebrew is taught by immersion for 50% of each day, but I have never found any of the Israelis in the area to be interested in babysitting. That would REALLY be ideal, since her Hebrew reading and writing are excellent, but she lacks confidence about speaking.

Sharon