My Babysitter of the Year Award is going to be revoked.

I was babysitting for my usual family on Saturday night. Great people. Lovely kids. Not a bad way to spend an evening, playing, making a few bucks. The parents walked out the door, and immediately, the baby (20 months) began to cry hysterically. Wanting to cheer her up, I decided to take the two kids outside to play on the recently-installed swingset. This was a super idea, as both kids had a great time, and peace was restored once again.

After a while, I decided it was time to start getting ready for dinner, so I rounded the kids up and marched back to the house. Upon arriving at the back door from whence I'd come just an hour before, I realized that the knob wouldn't turn. I tried the front door. Locked. Basement door. Also locked. Window? Not without breaking it. "This is not a good situation!" exclaimed the 3-year-old. Indeed!

Trying not to panic, I began to ponder my options. Not to say I had very many, of course. The kids were getting hungrier, and the baby would soon need a diaper. I could call the parents...but no, as the cell phone numbers (and my phone, for that matter) were all in the house. I was getting rather nervous by this point.

As a last resort, I sheepishly approached the neighbors, who happened to be outside working on their lawn. They were more than kind, inviting us into their house. While I minded their two daughters in addition to the two rugrats already under my care, they somehow managed to contact the parents, getting the code to unlock the garage door. It was an agonizing and somewhat embarrassing situation. The neighbor was even kind enough to feed the kids dinner, which I definitely appreciated, as they were most likely starving by that point.

After they ate, we trooped back to the house, and I even managed to get them to bed on time. Their parents found the situation quite amusing, but I was completely mortified, and for a while, certain they'd never invite me to watch their kids again. Not so, however, as they began listing dates they'd need me again. Whew. Still, though, sometimes I can be such a ditz. Ugh.