I have an after-school babysitter, who collects 8 yo DD from school 3 days a week. She has been working for me since the beginning of the year, when our previous fabulous sitter who had been with us a long time left to go overseas. She is a uni student aged 20. I pay her quite generously.
My office is abut 10km from DD's school, so it can take anything from 25 mins to an hour to get there, depending on traffic (inner city area).
The sitter is a sweet girl and nice to DD. However she is really flaky. On Monday I had a call from school at 4.05 pm to say that DD had not been collected. I called the sitter and asked what was going on. SHe seemed flustered and said "I'm nearly there". I told her not to bother and jumped in the car and raced to DD's school myself. Luckily my boss is accommodating and I am on good terms with the primary school receptionist. DD was a bit upset and anxious but coped pretty well.
Later when I asked the sitter what happened she admitted that she was not on her way to the school at all but had been "stressed" over an exam and had totally forgotten to pick DD up. She just forgot.
My issue is that this is the second time this has happened ie that she has "just forgot" and left DD alone in the playground. I don't want to be mean to this girl but I have reservations about whether I have enough trust or confidence in her to rely on her to look after my child.
Would you tell her its over and get a new childminder in these circumstances?
Thanks for your thoughts.