YDI for leaving the kid home alone!

If it's really a Palm product it should, they're actually really tough (one of the big reasons I keep buying from them, considering how clutzy I am). Wipe it off, dry it out and it should be fine.

I know that's the way I babysit. Though I do tend to get a bit concerned when the shovels are being broken out. And when they go outside, I check them every so often. And don't let them out when it's raining, or after it has rained. Sounds like a horrible babysitter to me.

When I babysit, I actually do watch the kids the whole time. That's my job, and I admit I'm a big stickler for doing what I think is right. If I want to watch TV or relax while I'm babysitting, I try to coax the kids into doing it with me. So I can say that there are better babysitters, and the OP should find one.

I know when I babysit, actually I do my job. You're not getting paid to sit inside and look out the window every few minutes to make sure the kids aren't running in the street. Sure, parents don't always monitor their own kids like hawks, but see, if a babysitter doesn't, and something happens, the babysitter gets fired. Obviously. If a six year old has access to a shovel, a real shovel, there's a problem with what the sitter calls "watching your kids". This is why I'm thinking it might be the wife who watched the kid, because I can see this being more likely to happen.

If there was a babysitter, I judge the babysitter. When I babysit I play with the kids the entire time. I bring activities that I think they'll enjoy doing that I will enjoy doing with them, let them choose the activity, and then I do the activity with them. Only exception is when I'm there past their bedtime, and in that case I put the kid to bed and then watch tv or do one of the activities I brought for the kid.

Maybe the baby-sitter was taking a dump?

Possibly

i guess everybody just saw that you're working a job in retail or something that pays by the hour... possibly this person gets a salary which pays far more than an hourly job... either that or she lives off her husbands money like my mum

I'm in college, I have a summer job that pays by the hour, and $200 dollars is less than a week's pay at my starting salary. And I know a lot of people who have better salaries than me. I wouldn't spend that $200 on a phone, as a personal preference, but if I did I wouldn't be set back that much. So yes... even in this rough economy, it's possible that to some people, $200 isn't all that much.

You're at college, you have a job, and $200 isn't a lot? Have the parents/school cut off their funding to you so that your money doesn't go directly in to luxuries, THEN say that $200 isn't a lot. For those of us who don't get overpaid to do nothing (most people your age are going to be making minimum wage and are lucky to hit $200 a week) and actually have to pay for things like rent, food, electricity, etc (which is pretty expensive) $200 is a few solid months of saving.

You're in college. So you're probably living in an apartment or dorm. You only have to worry about feeding yourself. You likely have some sort of financial aid. I don't know what kind of hourly wage you're making, but I guarantee your living expenses are negligible compared to a family. You'll find once you're out of college that you may have more income, but you have less spending money, and less free time to spend it in. $200 isn't trivial for most households.

Can I have $200? Didn't think so. Pfft. Only $200, my ass. I don't know about you, but normal people would prefer to spend their money on something other than replacements for things they already have. Most people work hard for their money. Maybe you mooch off of your parents, but once you start having to earn money, you'll realize you hate to part with it unnecessarily.

How do you know that he is not an investment banker or lawyer

Regardless, the correct way is $200. OP's mistake.

You're an idiot