When a child is bouncing on your furniture and they don't respond when you threaten them, you walk over to them, grab them by the hand and put their ass on timeout like you threatened the previous three times. When a 4 nearly 5 year old child strikes another child, you don't just tell them that it isn't nice.

And then there was the problem of that her house was too darned uncluttered. I didn't see toys and I heard her mention several times how broke she was, which to me meant, there wouldn't be a lot of toys. I'll never fault someone for cleanliness, but neatness? With kids? Is she nuts?

So after watching her children I was pretty wigged out. Then I left, thinking to myself, "There has to be something else out there."

Only, there wasn't. I called the City in desperation to ask and they gave me some numbers and then I got some numbers from them.

This summer, I've had teenagers in the house watching the kids, and that's been great, but they go back to school and stuff. I need to work now.

That brings us to how totally freaked out I've been. Mike and I hadn't heard from the other referrals for a few days and had finally just decided that we didn't have a choice but to put Genny at the "momma can't set no limits" house and try to find something else fast. I was heartbroken. I have spent a week sitting up at night, praying and trying to find a way clear of this mess. And during the day, I haven't been able to hardly work because all I can think about is my daughter going to an unsafe place and cringing.

And then I found LD. LD has an acre of land, animals, a playroom, a deck covered in toys, a fenced in yard, and a line of tricycles that would nearly shame most bike shops. If a single child was upset or out of line, she quietly talked to them about it and they simply listened and obeyed. I couldn't get over that there were so many trikes, that she ran over one on her way to take kids to swim lessons.

When Genny saw the dog and fearfully hugged LD's knees, I didn't need the reference list. (But I called the reference list when I got home.) I made friends as I talked to each woman. By all accounts, LD is a goddess and I am the luckiest mom in town. And Genny, as usual, is up to her usual princess specs.

P.S. My arm is healing fine. I've lost a little range of motion in it, but I'm in aqua-aerobics 2-3 times a week working on that. I'm not in a cast, it just hurts, as broken bones will.

P.P.S.