This is my first Blog EVER. I never thought I would actually have a blog, nor be writing about being unemployed for 5 months! Anyway, I have my friend Josh Fialkoff to thank for helping me set up my new website in one night. Thanks Josh! (Check out his site on online marketing, Getting Things Done and WordPress)

Anyway, today’s topic is about babysitting. I will need to backtrack at some point to explain how I got to where I am now, but for now, I’m just going to do a quick overview. I got laid off from my job as the Director of Marketing at the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston in July. I have been looking hard for a job since then, with no luck. I really treat my job search like a full time job. Obviously given the dismal state of the economy, the fact that I am bringing in no money, and that I have a HUGE mortgage to pay on my own, I started thinking about other ways to make some money.

Today was my first babysitting job. I love kids. I don’t have any of my own yet, but definitely plan to some day. I have 3 nieces, and love spending time with them. I spent 6 hours at this family’s house today (twin girls who are 4, and a 2 year old buy), and came home with a check for $102. Great! That will buy me 2 mani/pedi’s (letting my nails dry as I write this). Or 10 Super Chicken burrito from Anna’s Taqueria (licking my lips clean right now!). Or a couple of dinners out with friends. But, is it worth spending 6 hours away from my job search for a day? Or, a better question is, how do I reconcile the fact that I can get around that doing an hour of consulting work?? Oy, that’s a tough one. But, end of the day, I just have to look at it as, it’s cash in my hand, and I need to balance paying my mortgage, with actually getting what my background deserves in this economy.