Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for May 01, 2024

Still say a party will break out, in paradise.

It’s babysitting without the brat(s)!

Looks like they’ve got it covered.

Oh, and don’t worry about the creaking noises at night.

Erin

Gardening and taking care of a cat is a dream gig.

We did this once, just once. The lady brought her boyfriend for overnight stays, they used the computer, (which wasn’t a windows PC) so it was messed up when we got back. Needless to say, we didn’t do this again. The cats were ok at least.

Looks like Erin is checking out the scenery in the first frame. LOL

She is a redhead. Reds are beautiful, extremely smart, and they know how to party. I love my redhead.

Gig? Um, we weren’t planning to pay you anything.

That’s a LOT of babysitting. Probably didn’t cover the cost of books.

I’m still waiting for Janis’ grey hair to start growing out,

I hope Ludwig likes her!

It probably is.

And do it at your house. So, was that a yes or a no?

Wow!!!

Erin looks like Mary Lou except for the color of her hair.

When the kids were little, we had a teenage (14, IIRC) babysitter with hair about the color of Erin’s.

Based on a report from the kids, I told her that she could not have her boyfriend come over while she was working, as I needed her paying attention to my children, not her hormones. In those words.

Her mom came over and informed me quite firmly that her daughter would no longer be available for sitting; how dare I make an implication like that about her Penny??

Ran into mom in the store about 6 months later; she just started talking like it had never happened, catching us up with the news. “What news?” you ask? Well, the big item was that Penny was preggers………

And don’t forget to discuss price.

What could possibly go wrong? Let me count the ways.

Ludwig will be in hiding the entire time

read between the lines

We have the BEST next-door neighbors! They watch our beasts when we go out of town and vice versa. We keep an eye on each other’s homesteads as well. She played taxi for us one year when both my wife and I were totally incapacitated at the same time. Generous & Trustworthy neighbors make all the difference in the world.

The cat and plants would take an hour at day, at most. I hope she does not expect Erin to stay there full time. That would be a huge imposition. Just don’t broadcast to everyone that you will be gone.

As a professional pet/house sitter, make sure they carry liability insurance. And know how to handle emergencies, whether household or pet. Also, have a letter authorizing your pet/house sitter the authority to seek vet care for pets AND talk with your vet about how much $$ they are able to use to treat your pet in an emergency. Have a list of plumbers/electrical, etc. repairmen that you use. Also, local emergency numbers of family or friends who can act on your behalf if there is a disaster. And who gets the pets if YOU have an emergency. I’ve been doing this for 17 years. Do NOT hire the local teenager.

Let’s hope Ludving will like her.

Methinks the retirement arc cometh. On the upside, I get to see Mary Lou (my favorite supporting character).

Perspective.

I’m thinking she ends up buying the house.

I started babysitting at 12. Always had cash on hand!

When we first married our apartment was just over a mile from his parents house. So when we went away his dad would stop by the mail. We would do the same for them and feed and walk the family (to husband – his) dog as he could not stay with us.

When we bought our house that added another half mile to the distance and his dad would check our mail and since husband’s vacation was set by when his employer was mostly shut down for 2 weeks in summer most of husband’s “crops” would come in while we were away so we told his dad to help himself to whatever was ripe.

We had a nice friendly older woman who lived on one side of our house and a woman a bit closer in age to us and her dad on the other side. But we never asked them to take in mail, etc.

Now we have 2 “nice young couples” as the real estate people say. We say hello and wave. The couple on one side have a daughter in around 4th grade and we send her a birthday card every year (when she was born there was a stork on the lawn with the info which is how we know same). The couple on the other side have 2 daughters one of whom was born since they lived here. No idea of the dates or the girls’ names. Husband has joked that the two husbands are who we will call when he is old (he is in early 70s already) andfalls down and needs help getting up. I pointed out to him that it will not either fellow as both have back problems – it would be their wives or their daughters if they are old enough who would have to help. (And now the husband of the couple with the 2 daughters seems to no longer be living there – if only we knew the juicy details…)