Hellobee Boards

I guess I would give them the benefit of the doubt. Next time I would say something a couple days before, like, "Hey, are you still up for watching LO's on Monday? If not, no big deal :)" This way it reminds them and lets them know that your plans didn't change, but gives them the chance to back out if they really want to.

They may have felt since you did no confirm you did not need them/ no longer wanted them to do it. Especially since they offered. Just sounds like a little miscommunication. I text or email to confirm with my MIL and Mom and iron out the specifics the day before.

I am pretty specific, but sometimes, my parents just don't listen or they forget. I have to write it on my mom's calendar otherwise it's like the plan doesn't exist.

@babynumber1: Exactly this - I would remind them and ask if they were still up for babysitting tomorrow night. I feel like if you don't mention it, then they think that you're not up to going out any longer.

@regberadaisy: Man...he needs to get on board with using day care teachers! They're good enough for the day, why not at night?

We just use MIL 99% of the time and she is pretty reliable, thankfully! Only if something comes up will she cancel, but she also has dropped everything to babysit when things have come up on our end!

I think you need to be a little more specific (or your dh!)

That's kind of upsetting that they flake on you! I agree with others that I always remind, but give an out in case they can't or don't want to.

Our family that babysit are fantastic and usually will let us know if they can't and why, but it does happen. I think it's par for the course.

When we have friends babysit we always pay them even if they say they would do it for free. I make that clear upfront and they have never flaked.

Yes, my Mom once promised she could watch lo while i attended a work conference (dh was out of town). Right at the absolute last second when i was about to leave and it was too late to make other arrangements she backed out because she was "too tired". The worst part was she had made so many "conditions" to watching him that were really inconvenient for me i had already done, so not only was it devastating to not have a sitter at the last second I was also really inconvenienced in a lot of other ways. For example she insisted that DS still go to daycare during the day, but daycare is an hour from her house, so i had already dropped him off and driven all the way back.

Even this past weekend we asked my parents to watch him for 1 hour while we signed closing documents. They didnt cancel, but my mom faked an illness to hurry us up and make sure we didnt go one second over that hour.

It's really unfortunate that she does this because we intentionally moved to be closer to them so we could finally have some help. I even offer to send (and pay for) sitters to her house but she still cones up with some reason at the last second why they cant.