Odd News of the Week: Speed Baby-Sitting

Many of you may already know mamapaparazzi, a super-smart and super-friendly CafeMom of four kids: Liam, Joey, Emily, and Molly. For those who haven't met her yet, mamapaparazzi has a special talent for digging up odd, bizarre, and intriguing news stories on the Web -- you can see her links in Moms UNCENSORED and Stay At Home Moms, among other groups. So I've enlisted her as a roving reporter for Toddler Buzz, where she'll send us the best or weirdest toddler news finds from time to time.

What's she got today?

"A goofy new fad: speed babysitter finding," mamapaparazzi says. "It's like speed dating, but in this case, you're inviting the person you interviewed for all of three minutes into your home to watch your kids."

The news report features a California company called Sitter Socials, started by a California mom of a toddler and two older kids who was having trouble finding sitters.

For $49.99, Sitter Socials’ clients attend a neighborhood speed meeting, where they spend three minutes apiece interviewing a dozen or so potential baby sitters who've already cleared a background check. The company plans to expand to several other states in 2009.

"I'm just not sure how I feel about this one," mamapaparazzi says. "I'm no babysitterphobe, but I'm pretty sure I'm not comfy with letting some stranger watch my kids because they made a good 180-second impression on me and smiled pretty throughout the interview."