THE BRAZEN CAREERIST- Horror stories: Baby sitting and the opt-out revolution

Here is my nightmare. I moved to Madison without knowing anyone here, so I found a babysitter through the University of Wisconsin graduate program in early education. The woman I found was great, but she said that she was really busy, and could her boyfriend babysit instead.

I squashed all my sexist stereotypes and asked for his qualifications. She said he has a law degree in Puerto Rico, where they are from, but he can't work here because he didn't pass the Wisconsin bar, and he doesn't want to study for it because they'll only be here two years. So he is looking for work. He has five younger siblings and he babysat them.

I said okay. I did the normal routine-- stayed with him and the baby one day. Went out for a little the next. The third day, I told him I'd be at the coffee shop. I told him if he wants to go there, go when the baby is asleep so the baby doesn't see me and start crying for me, so he shows up at the coffee shop at naptime.

I say, "Where's the baby?"

He says, "At home."

"AT HOME?!?!?"

Yep. And people wonder why kids are growing up with responsibility problems and why failure-to-launch syndrome is so common.

Human children are not wren chicks to be turned out to fend for themselves as soon as they can walk. This bonehead will probably wrench herself apart wondering where she went wrong when her kids grow up to be useless. Actually, poetic justice will assert itself when she suddenly finds herself asking why her children are so self-involved that they never even call her. Then again, she will probably be so busy with being a strong feminist icon, she may not even notice when her chicks do actually leave the nest.