Everything was just fine, Mrs. Brown, until you came home.

-What Sitters Say

Sometimes you have to be away, and sometimes you just want to be away for a while. This is when sitters are necessary.

Most of you know the obvious ways of finding and using a sitter, but we have also included some different and useful suggestions.

It is a good idea to find a sitter and try her out before you have to have one for an important occasion. In fact, you might try to get two or three on your string. You will then avoid that Trapped Feeling.

Some mothers like to stay at home the first time they use a new sitter. This will depend on your children, however, for many children won't go near a sitter until the mother leaves.

If you have moved into a new neighborhood, ask a neighbor if she knows of a good sitter. (Don't be a Sitter Stealer, however.) You can also take your children for a walk, and explore for sitters. Find an older lady, or a high-school girl, check on her with a neighbor, and then ask her if she will Sit for you.

One of the nicest things about finding a sitter who lives nearby, or who drives her own car, is that you will avoid that long drive to her home late at night.

Call the nearest high school or college, which usually have sitter listings. One family we know had an Indian prince, an exchange student, for a sitter, until his father died and he had to go home and rule his country. After that they had to convince the children that all sitters did not wear turbans.

There may be a sitter service in your community. If it is a reliable service, it usually requires its members to have blood tests and chest X-rays. However, they are often more expensive and insist on minimum hours. If their minimum is four hours, and you are only going out for two hours, you may feel a little depressed about the waste of money. It is also difficult to get the same sitter over and over, particularly if she is a good one.

Some young mothers find it easier to direct a younger girl. Older ladies, though often excellent sitters, sometimes are set in their ways and may be shocked to learn that your two-year-old is not yet toilet trained, or that little boys do not always stay clean. It is nice, however, for children to know members of the older generation, especially if their grandparents live far away.

Many mothers have discovered the value of an older boy, especially if they have boy children. Boy sitters will play baseball or tell fishing stories to impressionable little boys, which is a very special treat

If there is a nine, ten or eleven-year-old in your neighborhood who would enjoy making a small amount of money, you may find him useful as a sitter while you stay home to bake a cake or write letters. He can play with the children, or take them for a walk, and you are near if needed.

If your child is just starting to go outside the gate to play, you can hire a twelve-year-old to watch him during the first transition weeks, until you feel certain of his traffic habits. This gives the child a sense of freedom without the danger.

Some parents hire a sitter to read or play with the children in their room while they give a party. If the sitter is a familiar friend, some children enjoy spending the night at her house.

Other mothers hire high-school girls to come in after school a regular number of days a week, to give the children supper and a bath. In this way they can count on certain times to make appointments, shop or just rest.

You cannot expect a sitter to do dishes and other housework without arranging this with her ahead of time, and paying her accordingly.

Another mother who had a series of doctor appointments, and who did not want to have to pay for a regular sitter so often for such a short time, hired a twelve-year-old girl to drive downtown with her and her small children. Then she dropped the children and the sitter at a playground nearby, while she went to the doctor's office. This cost her twenty-five cents instead of one to three dollars.

You can hire a young girl sitter to come in every Saturday, so you can be free to play golf or shop.

Summertime is an excellent time to get high-school girls, other than weekends.

It sometimes makes a vacation more fun for adults to take a sitter along. You must be careful not to overburden her, however, and to see that she also enjoys herself. It is a good idea to plan the trip with her before hand. You might arrange that you will watch the children on the beach every afternoon, if you can have your evenings free.

How To Organize Your Own Sitter Club

If you go out regularly, sitters can be expensive. Also, in many of the new surburban housing tracts there is a majority of young parents of the same age, and very few high-school children or older ladies. In this case it is convenient to trade off with other mothers, or to organize your own "sitter club."

Setting up a sitter club requires an occasional meeting to write up the rules.

In one typical, successful sitter club, the rules are as follows:

1. One mother acts as secretary each month.

2. Membership is limited to twenty couples, and new members have to be recommended by old members.

3. The number of hours any one couple can be ahead or behind is fifteen. Some couples lead a more active social life than others, and it seems unfair to let some get further ahead in hours that they will never use up in a year, or other couples so far behind that they will never catch up.

4. Each member is required to use the club-either to sit or be sat for-at least once every three months, just to stay active.

5. As the heaviest demand for sitting is on Saturday night, everyone is required to take that night at least once a month, if called upon.

6. To arrange a sit, members call the secretary who keeps a ledger with all the names and number of hours each couple is ahead or behind. She tries to arrange sits first for those couples who are furthest in debt.

7. Sits cannot begin before seven, unless you make your own personal arrangement

8. Children are to be fed and dressed in their night clothes on the arrival of the sitter, though they may still be up.

9. No one is asked to sit with a sick child.

10. Double time is given when children of more than one family are being cared for in one sit

11. Leave some coffee on the stove and a pillow and blanket on the sofa for the sitter's comfort

Many fathers like to take the sits because other people's children are often better about going to bed for them, and they can finish the work they brought home from the office.

It is also a natural, friendly atmosphere in which children already know the sitters and the sitter's children. Sometimes the sitter's whole family will come over early in the evening with a watermelon or ice cream, and stay until it is time for all the children to go to bed. You can go out, knowing that your children will feel at home with the sitter.

Lists To Leave For Sitters

It is always a good idea to leave certain phone numbers and directions, outside of the particular instructions you may give your sitter. If you are going out for the evening, the following phone numbers are appreciated by the sitter:

1. Close neighbor with car

2. Children's doctor

3. The number where you will be, if possible

4. Fire

5. Police

Tell the sitter if your child has any special habit, such as taking a Cuddly or a chewing blanket to bed, or leaving the light on or the door open. Show the sitter how to work the radio and the heat

If you are going out of town for a weekend or longer, it is a good idea to leave a drug-store and grocery-store phone number where the sitter can charge. You might also leave her some extra money for an emergency.

If your sitter comes fifteen minutes to a half hour ahead of the time you leave, it will ease the transition, give you a chance to watch the sitter in action, give you time to remember last-minute instructions, and perhaps give you some time to dress.

Many children behave better with a sitter than with their parents, and that is another reason why it is a good idea to have a sitter now and then. It gives your children practice in being especially nice.