Seriously? Dude, I could be a pedophile...

So we're finishing lunch today and the girls are getting ready to go swimming... the doorbell rings. I know it can't be the double trouble blonds from up the street because Justine has already stalked (er, I mean looked in their windows and rang their doorbells a thousand times to see if they're home...) So when I open the door there is a man, who hands me his card which says "Adam, the handsome handyman." He explains that he's roofing the house up the street which caught on fire last month. (And no, my son didn't have anything to do with it... I already checked into that) So he goes on to explain that his wife had to go to work and she dropped off his son with him. "I saw that you had a trampoline in the back, so I wondered if he could stay and play?"

"Seriously? Dude, I could be a pedophile!"

I couldn't help it. It slipped out before I realized it.

I cannot even IMAGINE leaving my 5 year old or any age child with a complete stranger just because I saw a trampoline in the backyard.

So what did I do, you ask? Well, what do you think I did? What would be the typical "Gina" response... (after of course outing myself as a potential child molestor)

"Sure. Why not?"

I wanted to ask him to sign a waiver, a release of responsibility in case of injury. But I
couldn't find any of those handy at the time.

At first, I was pissed. Really, really pissed. Pissed at myself for never having a backbone.
Pissed at the Handsome Handyman for putting me in that position. Pissed that some people don't take parenting seriously enough. Pissed that people could put their kids in such potentially bad situations because of their poor planning and prioritizing. Pissed that it's never enough. Pissed that I give and I give and I give and it's never enough.

So I found him an old swimsuit of Jack's and put sunscreen on him, this little child, whose
name I keep forgetting, who has a freshly shaved mohawk and poop stains in his underwear that he left on my deck. I began to feel sorry for him and his family. I began to think about when I was a single parent, trying to work and unable to find anyone to watch my daughter. I thought about the desperation I felt about trying to make enough money to pay the bills, much less the astronomical price of daycare.

And so, little Brendon is here for the afternoon. Our friends teenage daughter Emily also came
down to swim and is actually playing with all of the kids... so I'm sitting in my shaded cabana, sipping lemonade and blogging. What am I complaining about?

I am trying to figure out a way to let "Adam, the handsome handyman" know that this is a one time thing. He's not going to make a habit out of getting free childcare out of us. I have done enough!

I also want him to know that I seriously could have been a child molestor. How do you ever really know? You cannot just pick random people off the street to watch your kid. Watch the news. Make a plan and figure it out. Grow up. Quit relying on your good looks. OK, that last part was just because I thought his business cards were stupid.