What Have I Been Up To Lately?

After talking with a friend yesterday I realized that some of you may not know that I am no longer babysitting Alice. Alice's dad Patrick showed up on the day before Christmas eve and said that Alice wouldn't be coming back. They bought a house in McKinney (20 miles north) and they found someone closer. Now I knew that they had bought a house, they did tell me that the week before Christmas. But they had assured me that they wanted Alice to continue to come here and they would let me know if they didn't want to make the drive. Obviously that didn't happen. I was heartbroken at first. She was like my "daughter". I weaned her from the bottle, I started solid foods with her, she took her first steps with me, her first word was "more" which I signed with her and taught her. This was personal for me and that was my first mistake. But I didn't know how to not make it personal when she was with me for 50+ hours every week. I saw her more than her parents. So it was a shock to everybody when she stopped coming. After the shock wore off, I got upset. Not only had we come to depend on that small income but my girls were attached to her. Gianna started asking questions, "I pushed Alice and that's why she's not coming back?". Gianna actually thought for a couple weeks that she did something wrong and that was why Alice wasn't here any more. It broke my heart. And unfortunately Alice's parents were completely obliviously to how what they did affected my family. To make a long story short, it was a blessing in disguise. Right after Christmas is when we found out about Gianna's VUR diagnosis. So I was free to make all the appointments needed. And I like spending time with just my girls. However the medical bills are piling up and I need to find some kind of extra income. So right now I am babysitting for another family at their home on Saturday nights. They are very nice and they have a sweet 6 yr. old boy. They like to go out to concerts and dance clubs so sometimes it's a late night. But for $10/hour it doesn't bother me at all. It's just a little extra cash to help with groceries. I'm still selling on craigslist and ebay. And I'm also looking for a weekly babysitting gig that's more part-time. I'll keep you posted!