The Sitter Situation

It has been a little over a year since my husband got stationed in Norfolk, VA and we decided not to go with him. We live in MD about four hours from his base. After deciding he would do this tour as geo-bachelor we bought a house and laid down some roots. This decision has had mixed results, but we are all surviving. One of the big challenges for me is finding help. I'm very fortunate that my group of friends is understanding of our situation and helps me out A LOT. This was also one of the many reasons I decided to stay put instead of following him to Norfolk. Not having family or a spouse to rely on is very draining. I am never relieved of my parental duties which produces more grey hair than I care to have. I have hired sitters and even a helper this summer, but it's always so tricky to find someone who you can really trust. I was so happy to come across the website, sittercity.com. I haven't used a sitter from this site YET, but I was so excited to see that it is another free resource provided by the DOD. I'm in the process of hiring a sitter from the site and I'm relieved that most sitters have been background checked and they will provide references if asked. The sitters also provide pictures of themselves, a range of what they charge, and a summary of their availability. So if you are in the predicament so many military spouses are in - holding down the fort ALONE - check out this site.