I read the other day that the latest way to find a babysitter is a match-making process like speed dating. Prospective sitters and desperate couples show up at the same place and rotate through five-minute meetings to get to know each other.

“Check this out,” I told my husband. “We should have been so smart. Mass interviews! Disaster prevention!”

“Doubtful,” he said. And I had to agree. The truth is, no amount of interviewing ever guaranteed a no-surprise experience when it came to babysitters.