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The Best Babysitter EVER!!

We have had a lot of babysitters, and we have had a lot of really good ones...but the situation that occured during our night out at a Grey Cup party was one that made us realize that we (and especially our kids) may have experienced the greatest babysitting feat of our lives!

We got a call from our kids around 8:30 to say that they loved us and to say good night. "We saw a rat!" says Owen (5). "You mean a mouse," Nicky says. We have had a mouse in "Moby" lately and so Owen was obviously confused. We stayed at the party a while longer and got home at 10:30 or so. Jocelyn (the aforementioned "Best Babysitter EVER!!") greets us at the door and says "...I was able to trap the rat." I was convinced that she was wrong and that I would find a mouse. We went to where she had stood up some books, moved some boxes and a shelf and formed them into a closed semicircle by the wall...we looked under the desk to see a long tailed, 6 inch long, bulgy eyed RAT staring at us, it sent shivers down my spine. Really?! a RAT?! in my HOUSE?!

What ensued next was Jocelyn and I (Nicky wanted no part of it), scaring the rat first under a book shelf and then out of that as I trapped it under a bucket. I slid cardboard under the bucket and took my trapped rat outside where it met it's early demise...a shovel must have fallen on it...

As I drove Jocelyn home she told me how she was reading a book to the kids and the rat ran across the room and out. She said she reacted calmly so that the kids wouldn't freak out...seriously?! After the kids were in bed she spent the rest of the evening tracking that dirty little rat. At one point running back and forth in the kitchen chasing it around with a broom stick. She said that whenever she stepped on something soft she thought it was that rat. She told me, "it was fun!" C'mon, really?! She had this great feeling of accomplishment when we caught that rat...seriously, she is amazing! Can you imagine? A strange house and you are spending your time with this stupid rat making its horrible little squeaking noises and running around the house.

We should be working on getting her locked into a long term babysitting contract...but she may have some serious bargaining power! Plus she may never want to come back again.

Yesterday we got a cat...

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Unknown said…
you know...alberta has a rat patrol to ensure that we stay rat-free.

you should really consider relocating.

but - if i ever have the need to search for a babysitter...the requirements will read:

"must be able to track, hunt, and trap rats"
12:44 pm
Increasing... said…
awesome story dude - there's got to be a greatest babysitter award in the peg that you can nominate her for...
2:58 pm
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