When you ask her to put the kids to bed at a certain hour and when you pull into the driveway two hours after that time, you see your kids' bedroom light on. You then see the babysitter look through the blinds, the lights suddenly turn off, and she is sitting on the couch downstairs doing her homework when you walk in. She is out of breath and her eyes are twitchy as she tells us the kids have been asleep for at least a couple of hours.

Surprisingly, after we pay her and she leaves, our kids come walking downstairs still wearing the clothes they wore all day--wide awake.

We never hired her again.