My friend Monica has two lovely children that attend a YMCA Daycare. Twice a year, the daycare has an inservice day for employees and the kids need a place to go. Seeing as the bulk of my daughter's wardrobe comes second hand from Monica's kids, I graciously agree to babysit. It's good for me and for Violet to experience the disorder and periodic misery of a house full of kids. I see it as a booster shot for our Heathen Family one child policy. Just as I am beginning to get gooey while passing newborn sleepers in the supermarket, Kyra and Zander come to spend the day and cure me of my insanity. The day is made all the harder by that fact that I love these kids like I love my own and the day would go much smoother if I had the capacity for cold detachment. Really, worrying about their safety in my 110 year old house, with the wicked steps and the dirty kitchen floor is exhausting. Zander is 20 months old and teething and so everything that Violet plays with is potentially deadly, not to mention the dog food and the cat food and the petrified hunk of Play-Doh that I've already pulled out of his mouth today. Violet does not normally nap, so she had to be forceably removed from the playroom, so that Kyra and Zander could get some rest. Those kids are up at dawn and don't get home until after dark, so they NEED a nap. Violet spent nap time watching a movie in my bed after she screamed for a little bit about being separated from her sleepy soul mate. Now, everyone is stuffed full of applesauce and peanut butter and the afternoon has wound down to a comfortable din. We are all waiting for Mommy...
5 days ago
