As a single dad twice over who has needed afterschool childcare during my working hours, I have used popular, well-known sites like sittercity.com and care.com.

So when I read a story about a nanny who was too drunk to watch a toddler, the fact the police said she was found through “a reputable website for hiring childcare,” my blood ran a little cold. If there’s anything we parents who must trust a stranger to watch our children understand it’s that you just never know.

They could have years of experience. They could present themselves well, have impeccable references, a kind manner of meeting your kids. But even if you have cameras in the home they could do something just awful and you only find out either in real time or after reviewing a recording. It can’t necessarily stop it.

In this case, as reported by nj.com, police say a nanny hired by a Brigantine family to watch a toddler helped herself to alcohol in the home and was passed out drunk. In an affidavit of probable cause, police say the child’s father saw a live feed from the home’s Ring Doorbell camera showing the kid had opened the front door and left the home. They say he contacted a neighbor who then found the child dangerously wandering in the street alone. The neighbor contacted the police.

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Police say that the neighbor ushered the child back to the house and found the nanny unresponsive. Authorities say medical workers came to the home and revived the intoxicated woman who is in her mid-30s. She ended up being charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

Isn’t this the fear we all have as parents? In this case, the nanny seemed to check all the boxes. According to nj.com, her profile on the childcare site showed previous experience even a degree in elementary education and a work history as a daycare employee.

I learned at 4 years old you couldn’t always have faith in a sitter.

My brother and I were left in the care of a sitter in our home when my parents wanted a date night. It turns out the sitter wanted a date night, too. She locked us in the cold, unfinished basement for hours and had a guy over. Let’s just say we heard the fun they had on our couch upstairs even if we weren’t entirely sure what that fun was at that age.

In the middle of it, our parents happened to stop back home on the way to a second location when they caught the two of them in the living room. All hell broke loose and we certainly never saw that sitter again.

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No one loves your children the way you do. When we need professional care it’s a tightrope we walk whenever it’s someone new. You’re not a freak to have that fear. I felt it too. You’re not alone.

Thank God for all the good sitters I’ve had over the years. Their caring and kindness are worth more than what I could pay them. As far as the very few bad ones, you know who you are.

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Gallery Credit: Erin Vogt

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Gallery Credit: Erin Vogt

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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