On Thursday night I took care of my nephews while my sister luxuriated at the hair salon and my brother-in-law did his version of holiday self-prep with pitchers and wings. The boys were very well-behaved, as usual, allowing for your typical wailing, kitchen-floor flailing, and ignoring me with Sponge Bob-mesmerized stares. I convince them to …
nephews
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 …
Summer Classics: Play Day
I work from home. Some people think that this means I do whatever I want all the time. Not true. I have a daily routine that begins at 8:30 a.m. in my home office where I read, research, write, plan, learn and network my way through this freelance life. I break midday for an hour …
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 …
Progress
I remember that it took me a long time to learn to tie my shoes. All the kids were ahead of me on this one and even my practice lace-up shoe box didn’t help; in my hands, the laces simply did not tie. I was reminded of that feeling of helpless confusion this week when …
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 …