I have attended GenCon with my husband no fewer than five times in the last seven years. It's always been the perfect escape for us: Good friends and good games. What more could you want in a vacation?! ... but - in 2010 - we had a baby.

GenCon 2010 was the first time the husband went to the convention without me. I gave him his plane tickets as a special first Father's Day gift. (Now's when you tell me that I am the greatest wife and mother ever.) I stayed home with our infant while husband hung out with good friends and played good games.

It was for the best, though. The babe was coming up on 4 months, so there was no way I was leaving him behind. And traveling TO the con with baby on board would have been exceptionally difficult. So, I took one for the team and let the husband go have his fun.

This year, however, Archer's nearly 16 months. A full-on bundle of running, screaming, drooling, squealing toddler awesomeness... and we're bringing him to GenCon.

It's possible that we're going to regret this decision, but we couldn't get a grandparent to come watch him. And, as long as I'm being honest, I wasn't ready to leave my widdle boy for six whole days. Mama needs her baby fix, okay? Don't judge.

ANYWAY. We've been working for months to arrange our schedules just so. Graphing out our GenCon days in Google Calendar sothere will always be someone on baby duty, but there were times when the husband and I wanted to do stuff together (crazy, right?). In those instances, we're calling on the expert services of Sitters to the Rescue.

Now, I cannot comment on the quality of their sitters because I've yet to actually USE the service, but the process of booking a sitter has been nothing short of fantastic. Attentive, understanding, and reassuring, each phone call has detailed the multitudes of reasons why I should be completely comfortable leaving my wee laddie with one of their qualified sitters. It's not cheap, but - if our assigned childcare professional lives up to the hype - she'll be worth every penny.

If you're attending GenCon with your family and are interested in lining up a sitter, I'd definitely recommend giving them a call.

So, GenCon attendees: Have you ever taken your kids? Any advice for me?!