See that young smiling couple up above? That’s my husband, Dan, and I, approximately 15 years ago; before we were married, before we had careers, before we had kids (and before high resolution digital photography was readily available).
Since that photo was taken, we’ve been on countless dates, built successful careers, got married, and started a family with our two energetic, sweet, young boys. Yes, we’ve had lots of adventures – starting and growing our family has probably been the biggest one of all.
Here we are 15 years later – gray hairs, dark circles, and all! We take our kids on all of our adventures and have a blast together. But, some things started to take a backseat to life, and one of the first things that was sacrificed was the time spent as just a couple.
At first, you tell yourself it’s fine – we just have to “adjust” to this new way of life, this new role as parents. We all have those moments of panic, but, being fairly intelligent, responsible human adults, we figure it out, and we survive those first few years then decide to do it all again!!
As the chaos of life as a family developed, it became more and more difficult to find time for just the two of us. Our “fun time” changed, too. Gone are the days of exotic vacations, fancy restaurants, and clubbing with friends. Now we look for vacations with the best kids’ activities and shortest flight times, restaurants with kids’ menus, and outings with friends has become dinner for 12 at 5:30 with six kids’ menus, two high chairs, and a big basket of bread out first. At least the decision of what movie to see became a lot easier- what’s new on Netflix?
Like many of you, we put our kids into activities they love- swimming, baseball, soccer, etc. And, we cart them to birthday parties, playdates, school, and all the other activities that come along with having kids. Oh, and let’s not forget about our work too. At the end of the day, we were so exhausted that we couldn’t even fathom the hassle of trying to schedule a babysitter to go out. We would go months without spending “quality time” just the two of us. (And, sitting on the couch watching TV side-by-side is not “quality time”.)
Why is booking a babysitter – something that should be so simple – so dreadful that it prevents couples from spending time together and parents from taking a couple of hours to themselves? That’s ridiculous. I can’t stand inefficient processes. (I’m a Virgo, Type A, tech geek, business process consultant so it’s like nails on a chalkboard for me.) So, I completely geeked out and came up with Sitter. A completely efficient, simple, modernized way of booking and paying your babysitters and finding new, trusted babysitters quickly through friends. Sitter is for us, our friends, and all the other parents out there because everyone deserves to see a movie before it hits Netflix.
It has been a journey with many ups and downs, late nights, early mornings, and weekends. Fortunately, I have an insanely supportive husband and an amazing cheering section of family and friends. I am so incredibly overjoyed that I can now share my “baby” with all of you. (I feel like I should have been issued a birth certificate or something…)
Now, put Sitter to work for you! Download the app, get out more, and enjoy some “couple” time or “me” time. Scheduling, paying, and finding your babysitters is no longer a hassle! We love it and hope you do too!
And, please share your fun with us on Facebook or Twitter! We would love to hear from you.
