If you read my blog about what happened last week with my sitter, you might be interested to know that I got her to come over and had a talk. I had written her a stern email since I couldn't reach her on the phone. I told her we really needed to discuss what happened but the fact that she and her boyfriend (she is 19 and he is 21) together thought it was okay to send my 7 and 3yr old boys out in the dark stormy night by themselves, prevents me from having them sit again.
Well, she entered the house in tears. Said she wasn't fit for babysitting and that she doubted she would become a teacher either. I figured this was a melodramatic, over emotional response to what was going on so I told her she should sit and talk things out for a bit.
This girl was adopted along with her younger biological sister. The younger sister is still living with the adoptive parents whereas this young woman is living with her biological, paternal grandmother. I guess her mom totally disapproves of the situation and has cut her out of her life. The younger sister is siding with the mom.
On to her explaination of the events of the evening in question. She says that she was in a car accident when she was first driving and suffered a head injury. She says she can't remember anything about the accident and has these episodes a couple of times a year. She says it is almost like a siezure. Sometimes she just passes out. Others she shakes uncontrollably and often hits her head as a result.
All the while I am thinking "I sure would have liked to have known about this before I ever left you alone with my young children!"
Now my 7yr old said that she threw up at one point. She says she only felt like it but she never allows herself to throw up because she is too scared of having an eating disorder. I don't feel I can believe anything she says because the day after this all happened she tried to tell me she thought it was food poisoning.
Anywho, I kept asking why the hell they sent my little guys out in the night. She said she told them to go to our neighbors and see if they could take care of them. Her boyfriend was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher that, according to the sitter, required him to give them driving directions. She said that she feared the paramedics wouldn't be able to get there and they would have to go to the emergency room.
When I told her that made absolutely no sense since there was nothing wrong with her boyfriend, he could just call us at the 3 numbers I left, keep the kids there and we would/did send someone to take care of them. I straight out told her that 19 and 21 yr olds should have enough sense to not send little ones out in the stormy night by themselves. What if they would have been in the driveway or street when the EMS came flying in?! They wouldn't be looking for little guys out by themselves!
She cried a lot, told me more about her awful family situation, and I told her that she needs to get help. She said her grandma got her in to see a psychiatrist. I told her to keep in touch. The kids will be heart broken that she won't be sitting anymore. They thought it was all very exciting and that the firemen were very cool. I just feel sick whenever I think about it.