My parents hardly ever used the services of a babysitter as I grew up. Generally, if they had to be somewhere I couldn’t be, they would drop me off at my maternal grandparents for a few hours, or overnight if necessary. I was a generally very meek, biddable boy and I enjoyed these visits as welcome diversions from the usual domestic routine.
However, when I was 10 years old, Dad won a ‘Salesman of the Year’ award from his company and he and my mom were invited to a special dinner for him to receive it. Unfortunately, my grandma was very unwell at the time and my grandpa was unwilling to have another person to think about. Dad’s parents lived a couple of states away, so that was a non-starter too.