hiring unknown babysitter - questions to ask?

[stephogirl]

After being laid off and a year and a half of unemployment, I'm starting an awesome new job on Monday (yea me!). I need to find a sitter, though to watch DS1 (and probably DS2) until school starts in a couple of weeks.

I signed up on care.com to find someone, and think I have a pretty decent candidate who is interested in the job. I've never hired someone I didn't know ahead of time to babysit. I'm compiling some questions to ask her when DH and I meet with her. In this situation, what would you want to know?

[Deleted]

General qualifications, first aid, references, discipline techniques.

Really, I'd just want to have a cup of coffee and chat and get a good gut feel for her. And then have her meet and play with the kids for a few minutes to see how they all get along.