Baby Steps: Where have all the sitters gone?

I recently found myself in a predicament. Max and I had tickets to see an event at the River Campus and our normal baby sitter, Grammy, could not keep the kids that night. I thought, no big deal; we have tons of family and friends who could keep an eye on the kids for a couple of hours. At least, that's what I thought.

After going through grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles, best friends and church family, we were out of options. It also got me thinking: Where are all the baby sitters?

When I was a teen, I made very good money every weekend, and some weeknights and after school, by baby-sitting in my town. I had a set client list. Multiple neighbors and church families gave me calls every weekend. I had more kids to baby-sit than I knew what to do with.

Fast-forward 15 or so years, and I am the one needing a baby sitter. The problem is, no one baby-sits anymore! Kids today have much fuller social and school calendars than I ever did. Even when I was in high school and on the academic team, in the school play, on the forensics team and in band, I still made time to make a little extra cash by baby-sitting.

I wouldn't switch places with a teenager today for a million bucks! The few teens at my church are so over-booked that their schedules have schedules. Band or orchestra practice until 9:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, all-day marching band competitions on a Saturday and soccer games until 10 p.m. on a Monday. Is this what I have to look forward to?

Don't get me started on what baby-sitting options are out there these days. You have to either know a person who knows a person, or you have to advertise. The Internet is a scary place, and there is no way I am getting my kids' sitter from there! Who has the time or money for multiple interviews, background checks and calling all of their references?

What has this world come to? Max and I need to move to a neighborhood with teenagers so we can have a sitter and actually go out to dinner with each other one of these days. If anyone has an "in" with a good baby sitter, let me know -- I am willing to pay a very good price for the right information.

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Kristen Pind, a native of small-town Gower, Mo., came to Southeast Missouri State University with big dreams of being the next Katie Couric or Diane Sawyer. She never thought that in her 20s, she'd be married with two kids and living in Cape Girardeau. Keep up with Kristen's adventures as a young mom who's still trying to figure out how her own life fits together. Turns out, she's living a dream she never knew she had, and loving every minute of it. Kristen invites moms of all types to find her "Baby Steps" page on Facebook.