My neighbour ding-donged on the bell the other night at 9.30pm (whilst my DCs were asleep, so was a bit peeved to hear the bell ring). Anyway, was very polite as she was offering to babysit one night for us.
OK I said, that's good, you can indeed help me out as I'd arranged to go out with friends one night this week but couldn't get a babysitter (dh working late). So I said come round at 7.30 so the DCs will be tucked up in bed.
So, we get to the evening in question, I'm just feeding dd1 her milk upstairs and the doorbell goes - it's 6.55pm. I ignore it as dd1 was mid-flow with her bottle. Once dd1's got through her bottle and I've tucked her up in bed I can hear a tap tap tapping downstairs and neighbour is banging on the lounge window. I let her in - it's about 7pm by now and I've still got to get dd2's teeth brushed, story read, get her into bed, iron something to wear, get ready to go out etc.....Instead I have to listen to neighbour banging on about her work for 10 mins, whilst I'm conscious that dd2 is waiting to for me upstairs.
And neighbour has brought her supper with her - fair enough. Except that it still needs cooking. I eventually go upstairs to deal with dd2, get ready etc., and come downstairs to find neighbour has raided my cupboards to find saucepans, rice, cleaning stuff, and has got our best china out of a tucked away cupboard (instead of using the everyday stuff which is hanging in clear view on a plate rack on the wall). I say nothing......and leave.
When I get home the first thing that hits me is the smell of food. Try to ignore it. Dh is home and tells me that neighbour did all her cooking and left the pans for us to wash up. She also took one of our pans home with her, and when she returned it the next day she had rinsed but not washed it - it still had bits of rice stuck to it. He also said that she had every light on in the house when he got in, including those on the landing which shine right into the dds' rooms. I also noticed that something in dd1's room had been moved - dh said he hadn't moved it so I can only assume it was neighbour. It was not something that would have needed to be moved if she just just popping in to check on dd2.
Now it's very sweet she offered to sit for us, but I do find it rather rude that she left her washing up for us to do. Also find it weird that she thinks it's OK to turn up so early and expect me to be listen to her banging on when I'm clearly trying to get the dds to bed in a settled way. AIBU for being just a bit peeved and thinking that her babysitting 'style' is a bit odd? (By the way, both me and dh have sat for her dd in the past, so it's not a one way thing).