Babysitter Information Sheet

Filled in once, used many times

The worst time to explain the routine is while putting your coat on. This sheet is meant to be completed calmly, photocopied, and left in the same place every time — so the only thing that changes on the night is the date and where you are going.

Two contacts, not one

Your mobile is the first call. The second block exists because phones are in pockets in loud rooms, and a sitter who cannot reach you needs somebody else to try before they start worrying.

Allergies belong in the table

Putting allergies and medical notes in the children's table, beside the name, is deliberate: a separate list can be read without being connected to the right child, and that is precisely the failure that matters.

What to write where

The first block is where you are and when you are back — a venue name is more use than an address nobody will read out. The second is the fallback: a second parent, a grandparent, the neighbour two doors down who is in tonight. Pick somebody who is actually contactable rather than the person you would most like to be.

The children's table takes one row each: name, age, bedtime, and anything medical. Keep the medical column short and specific — "peanut allergy, EpiPen in the green bag by the door" is worth more than a paragraph.

Routine and house notes are the two blocks worth over-filling. Sitters do not need to be told how to look after children; they need to be told how this house does bedtime, which door sticks, whether the dog goes out, and what the children will claim they are allowed to do.