As parents, we try to provide the very best for our children. For most of us, that means holding down a full-time job in addition to our various parental duties. We normally need to enlist the services of a nanny, a babysitter, or some other type of childcare professional. Very few of us are lucky enough to have a close friend or family member to entrust with childcare.

We head off to work, leaving our little ones with someone who is not a part of the family, and we wonder if they are capable of having our children’s very best interests at heart. Often, this caretaker will spend more hours out of the waking day with our children than we will.

For this reason, we must be positive the caretaker will put our children’s wants, needs, and overall welfare first. We must ensure this person will not only be devoted to our child, but will also look out for our child’s safety. We must know the caretaker or babysitter is not only mentally capable of making the right decisions, but also has the necessary moral values as well. Read the rest of this entry

We all have someone in our lives with whom we feel we can share all of our thoughts and secrets. Usually it is a member of our family, or a schoolmate whose friendship has endured through the decades. These people have usually seen us at our best and at our worst, and they have been right there by our sides to see us through it all. Such friends and family share in the triumphs and suffer through the sorrows. There are no ulterior motives.

Many of us also have friends we have known for quite some time, who are always open and friendly, but never really help carry the burden when the going gets tough. Or we have family members who suddenly pop into our lives from seemingly nowhere.

How many of these people do you trust? Would you trust them with your life? Can you trust them with a secret? Or do you trust no one?

Be careful who you trust – your welfare may depend upon it Read the rest of this entry