Lots of great tips here, but please let's not normalize asking friends without kids to baby-sit for us, as if they are somehow sitting around with tons of free time just waiting to be asked to work for free. Instead, I'd suggest sharing the load with other parents! Or, maybe you have a child-free friend who has a pet and you could trade pet-sitting for child-sitting!
Lots of great tips here, but please let's not normalize asking friends without kids to baby-sit for us, as if they are somehow sitting around with tons of free time just waiting to be asked to work for free. Instead, I'd suggest sharing the load with other parents! Or, maybe you have a child-free friend who has a pet and you could trade pet-sitting for child-sitting!
points well taken. And I love the idea of trading off with fur babies.