When I was alone, very short of money and raising a small child, the county tried an experimental program. They had student nurses available to come to a home to watch the sick child so the mom could go to work. Needless to say, while this was a terrific idea, it was a short-lived project.

What this did accomplish for me, besides allowing me to go to work when my daughter was home sick, was to introduce me to the Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing, just a few blocks from our apartment. Many of the student nurses lived in a large dormitory near by. They became a steady reliable source of baby sitting. When one was busy, she would send a close friend. I had a rotating roster of great sitters for the two years I lived there.

Children get sick, it goes without saying. Someone needs to care for them so the parent can go to work. I am grateful for the help the county provided for a few months. And I am especially glad that I met that group of lovely young women who provided it in the years that followed.