When you leave your youngsters to go out for the evening you are entrusting your baby sitter with your most valued possessions. Sometimes particularly if the sitter is new and you aren’t well-acquainted with him or her you get the jitters after the rush of getting away to your meeting or party, and you contemplate: ls the sitter competent? Will she know what to do if the baby cries or needs to be fed? Can she change a diaper properly? Will she treat the children with the loving attention you give them? Will she be careful about letting in visitors? One of the first steps, of course, is to get a competent baby sitter – one you can trust to exercise good sense and reasonable diligence, When you’ve hired a sitter you feel you can trust, here are some things you can do to insure peace of mind: – Give the sitter specific instructions, – Take time to introduce your child to the sitter. If the child is to be asleep when the sitter arrives, be sure to tell him you are going out and that a sitter will be Uiere. – Leave an instruction sheet with your sitter. The sheet should give your name, fire department phone, police phone, ambulance phone, doctor’s phone, names and ages of your children, any special “rules of the house,” and the phone number of a reliable neighbor. Let the sitter iknow where you can be reached, when you will be back, and instructions for feeding the baby. – bet your sitter know how to work the TV and phonograph and where snack foods are. The National Safety Council has a checklist for baby sitters that includes: Be sure parents leave you with notes with vital information; find out the location of the first aid kit and childrenls clothing and food; find out how to lock windows and doors and who, if anyone, should be admitted; don’t invite guests unless you have received permission from the parents; find out how to unlock the bedroom and bathroom doors from the outside just in case a child locks himself in; be alert and careful and remember that parents are trusting you to take care of their home and family. Good, thoughtful instructions can provide understanding and increase mutual confidence between family and baby sitter besides improving safety factors. It’s a case of best results coming from adequate preparation. So They Say “The Department of Health, Education and Welfare estimates that there are more than 23 million Americans who have no teeth at all.” – From a report by the American Society of 0ral Surgeons during its annual convention. “Frankly, I think it’s an awful song for a national anthem. It’s practically impossible for anybody to sing it.” – Constance Allard, descendent of Francis Scott Key, author of the “Star Spangled Banner.”