Babysitter Blues: How to Fix Bad Sitter Behavior

The babysitter's constantly on her cell phone.

What to do: Discuss the problem right away and give her a warning

Your sitter's eyes and ears should be on your child, not her text messages. Don't feel bad about asking her to hold all calls until after your kids are asleep. Since excessive phone use is something you're most likely to hear about from your child, be diplomatic when you correct your sitter's phone habits: "Janie loves doing art projects with you, and she told me you stopped in the middle of one last week to take a phone call. Next time, can you please tell your friends you'll call back after you're done?"