A few summers ago at the Nirvana things were a bit different. Holly had just two boys to wrangle. She had a three year old and a baby.
These were tough times because the three year old had no interest in baby things and the baby was a baby.
Holly has a smile on her face because she very smartly sat down with her regular babysitter (babysitter #1) before college dismissed to schedule some summer hours of peace.
Well, not really peace, more like a mommy-and-me swimming class with the three year old for which she had to pre-pay.
Holly was at the window watching for babysitter #1:
Holly was still at the window watching for babysitter #1 one hour after babysitter #1 was supposed to arrive and 20 minutes after the pre-paid swimming lessons had started.
Babysitter #1 never showed up that day.
Babysitter #1 never showed up any other day of that entire summer.
Holly was dumped by babysitter #1.
Enter babysitter #2.
Babysitter #2 was very sweet and showed up on day one. Babysitter #2 was there a little early so that Holly could run some errands before pre-paid swimming lessons.
Babysitter #2 called Holly on her cell phone 15 minutes after Holly left to tell her that her son was bleeding.
A lot.
Holly called 911.
Holly turned the car around.
Holly met the ambulance at her home (Holly may have exceeded the speed limit on the way home…shhhhh).
The EMT’s assured Holly that her son had just bumped his lip and although there was a lot of blood, there was very little injury.
Holly thanked the EMTs.
Babysitter #2 thanked Holly for the work opportunity, but related that it might be a little “too stressful for her”.
Babysitter #2 dumped Holly.
Enter babysitter #3.
Quite honestly Holly can’t even remember what happened with babysitter #3. But shortly after she started, she quit.
Babysitter #3 dumped Holly.
Holly dumped the pre-paid swimming lessons.
Holly was pretty much in the dumps.
And then the phone rang…
It was Holly’s dentist!
Holly responded as any rational person would…
well, maybe not any person…
well, maybe just like Holly would…
Yes, Holly started crying.
And then Holly started unloading on the poor person from the dentist’s office.
Yes, Holly actually said, “And if I could find a sitter I certainly wouldn’t waste it on a trip to the dentist“.
Oh no she didn’t!
Oh yes she did.
After Holly said it, she regretted it…
Until 30 minutes later…
the phone rang.
It was Holly’s dentist!
Yes, Holly’s dentist found her a babysitter.
Enter babysitter #4.
Babysitter #4 arrived right on time for the first time so that Holly could go to the dentist.
The end.
Except, for the record babysitter #4 regularly worked for Holly’s family over the next 3 years and is considered a part of the family…Katie, thanks for not dumping Holly.
*This episode of Holly’s Animated Life was originally posted on August 27, 2008.*
{ 88 comments… read them below or add one }
Holly,
Were you always this adorable, or did you fall into a vat of radioactive adorability? Seriously, that post is ridiculously cute. The story, the drawings, the asides, the brown banana.
Best. Mommy Blogger. Ever.
That’s love on your dentist’s part! How completely sweet and it’s bonus that she is still around 3 years later and a “family member!”
Yay for Babysitter #4, and for the dentist!
Um, I may or may not have cried like that once or twice before, under similar circumstances.
Love this post! I wonder if you’d mentioned to your dentist that you can’t come for an appointment because you’re short of money, if he’d send you huge bags of it. Because he really sounds like that sort of guy. I may need to make an appointment. If only I had something designer to wear.
How did I ever get invited to a blogger get together with someone as funny as you? I am not worthy.
as much as i love (and dream about) holly’s animated life posts, i would be remiss if i didn’t point out that holly is clearly a young whippersnapper.
otherwise, she surely would have known that the rotary phone numbers go in the OTHER direction.
Boy, they really wanted you to get your teeth cleaned.
Hooray for Katie! And for your dentist who is, I concede, better than my dentist, who not only fails to provide excellent babysitting help, but can’t even seem to make a filling that stays inside the appropriate tooth.
Also, hooray for a copycat post idea. We tried to find babysitting help when there were eight under nine…
Best dentist/babysitter story ever written. And you don’t get a chance to say that alot in life.
awesome
I love Miss Katie because she saved Miss Holly’s teeth – and let’s face it… I’m a little tooth obsessed.
((hug)) You have been through so much for these boys.
I just love your animated life – it is so funny and so clever!!!
THAT is precisely why I don’t hire babysitter’s or go to the dentist. Too much trouble and heartache.
Rotary phones are out?! Shit, I am always the last to know everything!!
Hysterical post!
Your teeth must have been really bad!
Wow! That is pretty impressive…your dentist getting you a sitter I mean. Although the fact that three sitters dumped you in one summer is pretty impressive too!
Your illustrations are stunning, Miss Holly!
And your dentist is probably better than mine…but really aren’t they all evil pain-mongers?
Really, you’d think that it would be the OB that would provide that kind of service.
And also? I totally thought this was going to be a post about nitrous.
My sides are still hurting. And the artwork. Amazing.
The story. Hilarious.
You. Awesome.
Ha .. poor Holly .. but remeber I still have you bea. not only do I not have a regualr babysitter b/c everyone is always too busy the second time we call them BUT….
MY OWN MOTHER will not keep my kids for more than 2-3 hours and then only if she has not seen them in a week and as you know she calls at least 3 times durring those 2-3 hours to ask when we are coming home..
So I win…
Wow! Amazing! I was SURE you couldn’t top my dentist because when I went it Chicklet (a.k.a. The Beast), she cried the entire 40 minutes I got my teeth cleaned. That would be each time between 1 year and 2-1/2 years. Another person in the office held and comforte her the whole time and told me that it was NOTHING. That she was SWEET. That they LOVED holding her.
But they never found me a babysitter. In fact, every. single. time. I go to the dentist, it is with kids in tow. Thankfully it’s better now, but those early days are horrendous.
Ok. You’re right. Your dentist is better than mine.
You’re right! You’re dentist is awesome. Mine just pulls my teeth and gripes at me because I don’t floss!
Your dentist does rock… That’s awesome. Sometimes it pays to fall apart to the least likely of people.
And sometimes it probably doesn’t.
Boy was Holly lucky!
Great story, great technical graphics.
Really funny and I enjoyed the drawings too.
Very good.
You know our dentist hooked us up with our fist good babysitter as well.
Okay, that’s not really true, but it’s the best I have at this late hour.
By the way, I think Babysitter #3 stole your outfit…
This story rocks! it’s got drama! It’s got intrigue! It’s got blood! And it’s got a happy ending. Yay for Holly!
Does Katie travel? It’s been well over a year since my last visit to the dentist.
Yay for Katie…
one, two, three…
first of all, you have WAY TOO MUCH TIME on your hands. Secondly, I’m glad of it. That was GREAT!!!!
You are so lucky–I just get toothpaste and a toothbrush I never use (I’m a Sonicare girl).
Happy you got a sitter!
I love these – I can’t get enough!
That was awfully sweet of your dentist’s office! That woman TOTALLY understood where you were coming from…
Oh and LOL@ Janet – I thought the same thing!!
How nice to find a reliable babysitter who didn’t dump you. You made me feel better because we went through 4 babysitters in 6 months and I though maybe my kids were the devil and I didn’t realize it or I was expecting WAY too much. Glad to hear it isn’t just me these things happen to.
seriously/ your dentist found you a baby-sitter? crazy. my boys went to the dentist yesterday and we were in and out in 34 minutes, no lie. i have the second best dentist in the world.
I love the illustrations to go with! And yes, finding a good babysitter is hard… but then again it should be when you trust them with the most precious people in the world
BTW – I came her via Jenn
You are too funny!!!!
I featured you as part of my TT this week, so people, like frigga, may come visit!
Oh yeah? Well my Dentist has TV’s in every one of their over 25 examining rooms. And they over X-ray you! AND they have a uber cheesy mural of fish and the ocean and EVEN MERMAIDS painted all over their ceiling. AND they have a two story waterfall with those ludicrous mechanical swimming fish in the bottom pool. And the kids love it…
KEEP BELIEVING
Man. You have all the fun. My dentist only finds cavities and refuses to give me laughing gas anymore. Apparently, it’s just for the kids.
LOl I love it!
Oooooh. Shiny teeth AND shiny kids. Swimming lessons are overrated anyway
Plus…we’re giving away free stuff!
Holly’s dentist is certainly a full-service operation!
If katie decides to further her studies at the University of Colorado, can you email me her number. Thanks.
have you seen what cabbage is up to on my blog? you might just want to have a laugh texasholly.
I use my brown bananas as a microphone when I sing “I’m a Maniac”….never thought of using it as a phone!
Seriously…cute post…love your animated life!
Thank you Holly, for sharing your awesome babysitter with your brother and his wife!
That’s so funny! I, too, have cried on the phone to random strangers in moments of stress. I never got a babysitter out of the deal …
You DO have the best dentist ever! I mean,mine just sighs deeply while my boys try to rip the suction hose from his hands and try and suction eachother’s eyeballs out!
I was just telling someone the other night about how much I love your animated posts. This is HILARIOUS! So glad that you found a reliable sitter. And what a GREAT dentist office!
That’s great… I liked the phone not a brown banana…
That is the BEST dentist story I’ve ever heard. And of course, the drawings, no one does better. Ever.
Sometimes you have to try a few babysitters, cry and then it works…
Where are you getting all these cute babysitters with tank tops and mini skirts?
Clearly I need the number for your dentist.