After my last article on a reluctant babysitter, I realised that I didn't cover babysitting in the home!

I had a display book that I filled with instructions on the kids for anyone who should come and babysit for us.  It covered all sorts of things, but these

• The kids schedule - when they went to bed, what their usual bedtime routine was, any toys they usually had for sleep, if they slept with the light on or off, what food or drink they were allowed at bedtime.
• Dinnertime - Where their food was, who got what, any special plates, cutlery etc, what they were allowed for dessert or treats.
• A list of contact numbers - our mobiles, my mum, healthfirst hotline, ambulance, police, fire.
• How to work the TV, stereo, DVD and video - where the remotes were, which remote worked what and what they needed to think about in terms of what channel things needed to be on.
• Instructions on where things were in the house - first aid kid, ice pack, light globes, torch (in case of black out), meter box (if the circuit breaker was tripped), rubbish and recycling bins, cloths to soak up spills, formula, bottles, nappies, changes of clothes, spare sheets, spare blankets.
• Information on some odd things about our house - e.g. there is always a water hammer if you don't turn the water on hard enough in the kitchen, and the hot water takes ages to come through.
• Where to put things - dirty clothes, spill cloths, bath toys.

I'd originally set the book up for a first time babysitter who needed some reassurance, but it soon became our babysitting bible.  I had the whole thing on the computer so if anything changed, I could just amend the document and reprint it and put it in the display book.

These days I don't use a babysitter, so the thing lies in the study gathering dust and cobwebs, but I must say it was so useful in earlier days!