The Blogfathers

I’ve found the perfect babysitter. Cheap, always available, reliable, low maintenance, always on time, and with millions of references. My babysitter is called Skype. I adore my two children but I love when they go to sleep after a nice day and I have a few hours to relax. Having friends with kids over for dinner and drinks is not always easy but we’ve found a great way to have some nice food, a few bottles of wine, and still keep track of sleeping children.

We like to have people over for dinner and see no reason why kids should stop us. That our guests and us have young kids just make them a bit more challenging. We’re fortunate to have some nice couples right next to our apartment. They are barely 30 years old, have small kids, like nice food, and enjoy opening a few bottles of wine anytime. Nice dinners and small babies often don’t mix but that’s where our babysitter Skype comes in.

Here’s what we do when a baby monitor doesn’t reach or is unavailable. Our friends come over around 6 p.m. so the kids can play for a couple of hours while we chat and cook some food. At 8 p.m. one of them go right across the hall to their apartment and put the little one to sleep while we put our two kids down.

Our neighbor then fires up his Macbook/Macbook Pro, gets on a wireless network, and calls our computer from his/her apartment via Skype. I answer over at our place and keep the line open the rest of the evening. Turn the night light on in the room and we both see and hear the little ones. The sound quality and sensitivity is amazing, far superior than any baby monitor. Perfect solution.

Leaving kids alone while they sleep is not desirable for most parents, we are no exceptions. But our neighbors live 10 feet from our door and if anything happens they can be right there, probably quicker than while watching a movie in their living room. Unless it was very safe we would never do it.

Playing with the kids is great but the importance of getting some adult time should never be estimated. Relaxing with friends knowing the children are sleeping well is a nice feeling. Only problem with our dinners have been getting to sleep on time. Knowing you can be home in five seconds often leads to a couple of extra bottles of wine. Or maybe it’s the fact that I don’t want our tall blond 28-year old neighbor to leave?

Got neighbors very close and enjoy their company? Maybe Skype and your laptop can help you? Have a nice weekend!

Habits, Parenting Challenges