For many new parents, more than any other holiday or event, New Year's Eve is the time to hire a babysitter. Choosing the right babysitter can be a frustrating task, especially when you've got a baby or toddler with limited language skills to let you know what's going on while you're away. I wish I could say that I always chose the perfect sitter for my child, but that is not the case. Once, I thought I had found such a great fit for us. We decided to go to a concert and I was so excited. It was the first time I'd left my son in the care of someone that wasn't family or friends. He was 7 months old and I was a bit nervous, but he was a pretty easy baby at the time, so no worries, right?

Imagine the horror when I arrived around 1 a.m. to find my son still awake and eating peanut M&Ms off the kitchen floor, I kid you not! Hindsight tells me that Robin's Bad Babysitter Sign #2 ("Doesn't seem to care or focus on instructions provided.") is spot on. While I was giving her detailed feeding instructions she was scarcely listening. I ignored my gut feeling at the time and instead wrote the instructions down for her, thinking she might have just been distracted with the other children in her care. I should have listened to my instinct instead.