To the list of things sometimes stolen in Westport — parking spots, investment ideas — add one more: babysitters.
A local woman tells this story:
A friend dropped her child off for a play date. The mothers chatted on the front porch, while the kids played with the sitter in the yard.
The friend asked about the sitter.
“Great!” the host replied. “The kids love her, and she’s very reliable.”
The guest asked if she could use the sitter too.
Surprised — she uses the sitter all the time, and had spent a long time advertising, interviewing and testing candidates — my friend suggested the other woman get her own sitter.
Later that day, the host woman arrived home earlier than expected. There — picking up her child — was the other mom, deep in conversation with the sitter. She was trying to poach her.
My friend shielded the sitter from the thief. Later that afternoon, the poacher appeared again — this time bearing gifts for my friend. She has continued to try to curry favor since then.
“She knows I was on to her,” the first woman says.
Has she learned anything from this?
“Yeah,” she says. “Next time, I won’t sing my babysitter’s praises so enthusiastically.”
