Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Checking in

If you work – or even just use a babysitter occasionally – do you call to check-in every once in a while?  I’m not a compulsive check-in-er.  Most days when I work, even if the kids are at my mom’s - which means I could call as much as I want - I never do.  I know this sounds bad, but I don’t think about them much.  I mean, they’re never really off my mind and I obviously don’t forget they exist, but I don’t worry about how they’re doing.  I know they’re OK.  When I do think about them – maybe if I think one of them might be getting sick and I don’t know if I’ll have to stay home the next day – I obsess about it and barely get anything done.  It’s easier for me if I go into work mode and try not to wonder how things are going or what they’re doing.  I just concentrate on making it through the day.  How about you?  Does checking in on your kids ease your mind or make it harder to keep working?

8 comments:

  1. I think the daycare would shoot me if I called to check in. Not that they don't care about parents but that would be nuts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I managed to make it through Jackson's first few weeks at day care without checking in. However the first night Chris and I left him at home with my mom, I called 3 times. I have gotten better since then. Not that I don't miss Jackson while I am away from him, but I know he is well taken care of.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't use a babysitter often, but haven't ever called to check in when I had one. Mostly when we have a babysitter it's for date night and we go after the kids are sleeping. Seems pointless to call and say- so are the kids still asleep or what?

    ReplyDelete
  4. When I am at work, I'm at work. When I'm home, I'm home. I try to keep them separate. My babysitter calls me if she needs something.
    I have thought about calling today to check in on Gizmo who was sick all weekend but I figure if there is something I need to know, the babysitter will call.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nope, not ever. I'm also a horrible mother who doesn't miss the kid when she's gone. If I know my child is well taken care of (and why would I leave her with someone I don't trust?) then when I am out I enjoy myself.

    ReplyDelete
  6. We don't use a sitter often (actually, we've never used an "official" one, just friends that we switch off with), but when we do, I don't check in. I figure if they need me, they'll call me.

    ReplyDelete
  7. When Ezra and Iris started daycare as smaller people, that first week I called maybe once a day. More for my peace of mind, really. Now I don't call at all.

    When Iris was home with a nanny, J the Nanny and I would exchange texts a few times a day--quick questions here and there, or she would send me cute pictures. I loved it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. If we're gone overnight and the kids are with my parents or in-laws, we usually call at some point to check in, mostly because we feel like we have to. It's not that I don't care, it's that I assume they will call us if there's a problem.

    ReplyDelete