Excuses

I mentioned a while back that I had taken a baby-sitting job.

That was a bust.

She would schedule me and then cancel. One day I even got to her house and she wasn't there. She had me meet her at the drugstore because her child had barfed all over herself and she needed to go in and get some Pedialyte and couldn't pick her up because of the barf. I sat in the car with the kid while she went in the store.

I didn't mind. She was a sweet kid. i enjoyed playing with her.

But I'm almost 50. I don't need to play with a 2 year old, especially when the mom never had my money.

Then she stopped calling me.

She owes me $55.

She's come up with every excuse as to why she can't pay me:

• behind on house note
• behind on car note
• need to buy Christmas for her kids (I saw her asking to buy used toys for her little girl on Face Book)
• husband got 3 speeding tickets
• too busy getting ready for Christmas
• too busy recovering from Christmas
• had a migraine
• had to tithe at church
• had to help a family that got robbed ( while she is robbing me)
• her FIL is on the edge of dying
• her little girl had rotted teeth and suddenly needs them taken out

I do know from FB that she took her daughter to the hospital with a UTI, the same hospital where my DIL works. Apparently, the condition of the little girl's teeth concerned people at the hospital. My DIL asked me several questions about the mom and girl out of the blue. Then she told me that the mother was reported to DHS for neglect over the rotten teeth. I know this violates every patient privacy law, but she wanted me to be prepared in case DHS came out to the house while I was there. I hadn't told her I wasn't still baby-sitting, but I told her then. So I guess the mom is being forced to do something about the teeth finally.

But I'm still out $55. Small price to pay for me to learn not to trust strangers, even strangers that let you in their house and trust you with their child.

I pity her children.