Sitter Pals Review with $50 Outback Steakhouse Giveaway

One of the toughest choices about being a parent is deciding who will watch your child when you have to work or if you just want a night out. It is important to find someone who can be responsible and trusted enough to watch your most precious children. Most people in trust their children to a family member but not everyone has the luxury of that. Whether it was a job change or the family has all moved away, the parents now need to find a sitter. It is no longer the time where families live down the road from each other and moving away was pretty much unheard of, and if someone moved it was a huge deal, because it could mean it would be a long time before you saw your loved one again. Where do people find someone to watch their children? I am sure you could get a referral from a neighbor or a friend. Maybe your friends don’t want to share their awesome babysitter because they need them on the weekends and don’t want to be without a sitter for that party. So, we turn to the internet. There are sites out there that help parents find sitters and help sitters find work.

After browsing some of the sitter sites in the past, I found out about a website called Sitter Pals. It is the first social network for parents and sitters. As a blogger and someone who is very involved with social media, I love this concept. It helps you share sitters with friends, maybe you know three or four sitters that you trust but you have a regular sitter. You could help those four sitters find work and have a night out with the girls or a date night. I remember when I was babysitting, I would receive three or four calls for the same weekend to babysit. I passed out fliers door to door and had done a lot of babysitting. So, my client list was pretty long. I am sure those parents would have loved to just log on and see if I was busy or not. I hated not being available to all of them, but it was a first come first serve basis for me. I had friends who also babysat so I would refer them and they would refer me. Sitter Pals brings finding a sitter to a whole new level. Sitter Pals was created by Amanda Armstrong, who I think is a genius for this idea.

The other babysitting sites are more like finding a random sitter. Someone you didn’t know, that listed their information on a website. I tried to get babysitting and nanny jobs on a few of them. I went to the interviews to meet the parents and most of them were so far away that it wasn’t worth the gas to get there. I also was spammed all the time, by people trying to scam me. I am sure some of the people are good quality sitters, but I love Sitter Pals because you are able to share with your friends who is good and who is trustworthy. You can also book at the last minute and not have to go through your contact list to see who can babysit. You just post the job and watch the sitters come to you. You have full control with who you share with, which sitters you share, and who babysits your children.

For more information visit Sitter Pals.

Thank you to Sitter Pals for sponsoring this giveaway.

I have a giveaway for you.
One (1) lucky reader will win a $50 Outback Steakhouse Gift Card.

Mandatory Entry:
Tell me what is the most important quality a sitter should have?

Extra Entry:
Like Sitter Pals on Facebook

This giveaway is open to US Residents only.

This giveaway will end on June 4, 2011 at 11:59 pm ET