The handover is always the same. You are already late, the sitter is at the door, and you are talking fast — bedtime is around eight, she does not like the crusts, the back door sticks, call me if anything happens. Then you leave, and spend the first hour out checking your phone.
The problem is not the sitter. It is that everything they need to know lives in your head, and a rushed verbal briefing is a bad way to move it across.
Write it down once
A written handover takes twenty minutes to build the first time and zero minutes every time after. It also gets used — a sheet on the fridge gets checked, a spoken instruction gets forgotten by the time you are in the car.
What actually belongs on it
- Emergency information first. Your number, a second contact, the address written out in full, and the doctor. In an emergency nobody should be hunting for this.
- Allergies, medication and anything non-negotiable. Put this near the top, not buried in a paragraph about snacks.
- The routine, with times. Meals, screen limits, bath, bedtime. Be specific — "around eight" turns into nine.
- House quirks. The door that sticks, the alarm code, which light switch does nothing, where the spare key is not.
- What to do if. If they will not sleep. If someone is sick. If a stranger comes to the door.
Ask before you hire, not after
The other half of this is the interview. Most people ask about availability and rates, then stop. The useful questions are the uncomfortable ones: what would you do if my child would not stop crying, have you handled an emergency before, what would you do if I was running an hour late.
Ask the same questions of every candidate and write down the answers. Comparing three sets of written answers is a very different decision from comparing three good first impressions.
The point of all this
It is not about control. It is about being able to leave the house without carrying the whole household in your head for the next four hours.