Can we talk?

Babysitting All Day

         I am exhausted. I babysat from 6:30 am until 8 pm with a 22 month old child. She opened every drawer and every door in the few rooms in which she was allowed. She touched everything that she could reach. The refrigerator and freezer were being opened every time I turned around. Even after my brother and my father came in after 6, she ran us ragged.

         I have run up and down the wheelchair ramp with her, marched around the house, pulled her in the wagon, and pulled weeds with her.I tried to teach her how to roll in the grass. I have a frozen shoulder that is only half healed, but I forgot about it until I was lying in the grass. I tried rolling over while protecting that shoulder and landed at the bottom of a short hill near the walkway. I tried to get her to do it and keep her legs straight, but she rolled and bent her knees every time she went over. She ended up crawling down the hill. We got up and brushed off grass and went on to other things. We did the hokey pokey out front where the neighbors could hear us singing (I hope they weren't looking through all the vegetation).

         We colored, read Peter Rabbit, watched a few minutes of SpongeBob, and stirred some little plastic Easter bunnies in some aluminum pie pans. We called it Rabbit Stew.We used every diaper she brought with her, and let her use shorts without diapers tonight. Which meant we changed her shorts several times, and were lucky she did it outside. She got mad and cried a lot when I told her she had to take a nap, but she sat in my lap and cried herself to sleep in less than 5 minutes.

         Her mom, an RN, came in tired from a long work day, to pick her up, to eat supper, and to pack their things. She throws tantrums with her mother. It's amazing how kids know who to test. And her mom doesn't give her everything she wants. She is very patient with her.

         I realized I don't usually go outside much in the evenings, mostly because I have an aversion to mosquitoes, while they have a lust for me. I'm usually out in the hot part of the day. It was very nice out this evening. I had put bug spray on both of us earlier in the day, so I made it ok. I might try to get out more those last hours of the day without a child to chase.