Burning Questions

On the first day of our nannyless week, I came home to find that Muffin had a small red mark on her hand. I knew she and the sitter had been at the park for much of the day, playing the sprinklers. I figured the sitter had missed a spot with the sunblock, or some of it had washed off. This was Muffin's only day with her, so it seemed pointless to make it an issue, and I reasoned that it could have happened in my care too.

But almost two weeks later, the mark remains. And now Muffin keeps showing it to me, and to Sally, which is making us both think that maybe it hurts. I believe it’s a burn, and a pretty bad one at that.

How would she have gotten burned? It’s possible that she climbed up on the couch and touched our lamp’s lightbulb. I know she loves to knock the lampshade, even though she knows it’s a “no.” But this is a pretty substantial burn. It is possible that the sitter let her near the stove while she was cooking? Did she give her a bath and accidentally turn on the hot water? Was she somewhere she shouldn’t have been? Dangerous possibilities are swimming around in my brain.

Injuries happen when you’re tiny and curious, and I know this will heal. But what won’t go away are the questions I’m left with:

Am I too casual about who I leave her with?

What do other working moms with no family in the area do when their regular childcare falls through?

Should I have used up the rest of my vacation to take care of her myself?

And did politeness and desire to spare a stranger’s feelings really keep me from advocating for my child and asking what the hell happened?

It’s too little, too late, but I’ve contacted the babysitting agency to see if I can get an explanation. I’m hoping there’s a good one.

UPDATE: The agency talked to both of the sitters, and neither remembers an injury to Muffin's hand. The woman from the agency thought that a burn would probably have cleared up by now anyway, and she's right -- I googled it. First degree burns clear up in 3-5 days. I don't know what that mark is, but I expect the self-flagellation to last at least 3-5 days too.