The View From Eden Farm

Babysitting

I'm in Montgomery, AL. for Christmas. We've had a great time so far with the girls and the Browns, juniors and seniors. I got the dogs 'pooed and clipped yesterday and I got 'pooed and clipped today. Tomorrow the car gets 'pooed. Jenny, the girls, and I ran a few errands this morning and then, following our Mexican lunch, I took a two hour nap (its good for the soul you know). When I got up I found Jenny had a bad headache, so I set her up with my meditation tapes and told her to go rest, I'd babysit.

Well, Katie and Anna are just the sweetest five and three year olds you ever did see, but suddenly I was on duty with no help at all. Not to be sexist, but most of my previous babysitting experience was with Suzanne, and it never really disrupted my routine too much. I'd play while they were happy and escape to the computer, a book, or some errand when they got tired.

First, Anna asked to play Mario Kart on the Wii. I'm a little familiar with the Wii and I've seen them play it for extended periods, but it was complicated to set up, and, just when I thought I had a few quiet minutes, Anna's car got stuck in the track infield and she couldn't get off. The screen was helpfully flashing "U Turn", but neither one of us could figure how to do that. I even tried facing away from the TV while moving the Wii remote, but that didn't work either, so, I suggested we try another game. At that point my dogs started barking in the back yard and I rushed to bring them in so they didn't disturb Jen. Then Katie asked for a frozen yogurt, and, as I went to the kitchen, Anna threw a ball to Beau which hit me square in the "lap", the lower lap. Katie found the frozen yogurt while I recovered, but asked me for a towel. I thought why does she need a towel to eat frozen yogurt? But, when she handed me a squeeze tube of frozen yogurt to open, I realized she wanted to protect her hands from the cold. Once I got her a towel, Katie asked if I would turn on "Nick" on the TV and I thought surely this will keep them occupied. Well, it took me about ten minutes to figure out how to switch from the Wii to the TV and find "Nick". They settled down for awhile, but, only as I learned later, because they got to watch some teeny bopper show they aren't allowed to watch!

As soon as the show was over Anna asked for applesauce, which I thought would be a snap, but to my dismay I couldn't find a jar of applesauce in the fridge or the pantry. I suggested apple slices, but Anna says, "I'll show you where the applesauce is." and pulls a green squeeze tube of applesauce, which looks like it was designed for astronauts, out of the hydrator drawer (are they still called that?) So, dinner consisted of frozen yogurt, applesauce, cheese, and some peanut butter crackers. For desert, Anna asked if they could could decorate the fairy cookies, which they made yesterday, with pink sugar sprinkles. I had seen this project unfolding and the last time I saw the cookies they were sitting on a shelf in the refrigerator, but they were not to be found. I said, "Sorry, girls, but you already ate them.", to which Anna promptly replied, "We can make some more with the left-over batter in the refrigerator (dear, sweet three-year old. She's my granddaughter you know.) I said, "Nope! that's too complicated for PopPop." hoping to put an end to it.

Shortly after dinner, Anna proudly announced she went to the potty by herself for which she is allowed a piece of chocolate. So, she picked a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup from the candy jar and happily sat down at the kitchen island to eat it. Natch, Katie said she deserved a piece of chocolate too for using the big girl potty (which she's been doing for 2-3 years now), and she picks a big, plain chocolate star cookie. Then she asked if she could decorate it with the icing and sprinkles from yesterday. I said sure, and, not surprisingly, Anna wanted to decorate too. Reece's Peanut Butter Cups actually look pretty good with green icing and colored sprinkles. At that point, I was willing to give them anything, sugar, chips, fat, gluten; you name it they could of had it. I didn't care if they had a sugar fit later, their mother would be up by then!!

Keep in mind that while all this was going on, I was having considerable difficulty deciphering what they were saying to me because of a combination of my bad hearing, references to unfamiliar technology, three to five year old pronunciation, and early Alabama accents. I kept asking them to repeat themselves while I tried to read lips and looked from one to the other for clues.

Not long after dinner, Jenny appeared; greatly refreshed and very willing to relieve me. I sort of stumbled out the front door with Jenny's bad headache to get some fresh air. I found myself reaching for a cigarette and realized I stopped smoking in 1990. Then, I thought about a scotch and remembered I gave up drinking over a year ago. Then I thought of pills, but realized all I had was for hypertension. So, I had some chocolate with sprinkles!

I love my granddaughters. I love Jenny and Ronnie. I love Montgomery. And, I am looking forward to spending the month of January down here!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Geoff