My kids are older and we were fortunate to be able to afford to have someone come into our home, but this one really used to slay me.

She was the daughter of my mom's friend so we gave her a chance, because she really needed the money. The arrangement was that she would bring her 2 year old and watch our 4 small children in our home. She went through all the hoops and qualified for assistance with daycare. The state paid for x many hours a week. So she started taking her toddler to day care for half the day while caring for our kids at home. Only our 2 youngest were even at home the entire day!

I cannot imagine what the provider thought. We had used her previously, but never had occasion to ask. I can't imagine it didn't get under her skin to know her pay was being provided by the state for a mom who worked as a care provider, just as a private babysitter. We didn't keep her long, because she didn't really like to work as evidenced by apparently not wanting to look after her own son in a position which should have made that an ideal situation for her. My kids loved her little boy and he loved them. It was just the craziest thing.

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