There I was again, driving to my sister’s house hours before dawn. It’s President’s Day and I have Aunt duty with nephews K. & D. My brother-in-law and I do the whispered baton-pass in the dark kitchen – he heading out to work, I heading straight to their living room recliner. After fumbling with their …
Search Results for: Adventures in babysitting
Adventures in Babysitting: Columbus Day
“Good Morning,” whispers my brother-in-law from the dark kitchen. “Morning? This is still night!” I whisper back. It was 6:30 on Columbus Day morning and I had already driven across the county to be here in time for him and my sister to leave for work. I had agreed to watch K. & D. on …
Adventures in Babysitting: A Dog’s Life
I have a dog. She is a greyhound. Contrary to popular belief, greyhounds are actually quite mellow and lazy, earning the nickname “40 mph couch potato.” Due to breed-inclination, advancing age and her own temperament, Valentina moves rather slowly and is compliant except when she is being aloof (neither compliant nor naughty, just generally uninterested …
Adventures in Babysitting: The Aunt’s Arsenal
Less than a month to go until school is out and my long-term babysitting gig with K. wraps up. I have learned a lot over the last eleven weeks of meeting his school bus, with these three lessons standing out: If you play with them the first day, they expect that you will play EVERY …
Adventures in Babysitting: Staycation
You’ve seen The Husband and I babysit both of my nephews for an evening and you’ve seen me take on after school duty with K. My sister thought this was sufficient training to be “In Charge of K.” for an entire day last week during his Spring break. I accept the challenge as a favor …
Adventures in Babysitting: Matched
Now in the third week of after-school nephew duty, we are settled into a routine. As he puts away his shoes and washes his hands, I unpack his backpack and check his daybook to see if K. had a Five Penny day (excellent behavior). This week he had a Four Penny day, due to playing …
Adventures in Babysitting: Part-Time Gig
March is unusually warm this year in the northeast, drenching recent days in sunshine that has beckoned to the crocuses to come out and play. This has been fortuitous, as my new boss demands that we spend much of our time outdoors. My new boss is seven years old. My nephew K. is in first …
Adventures in Babysitting: Holiday Edition
Another Saturday night spent with nephews K. & D., another case of “best laid plans” going awry. This post is supposed to be the one where I get the boys to explain Christmas to me for the enjoyment of you fine readers, however, that was not to be the case…more on that later. The planning …
