Why'd Ya Do That?

Do you ever not remember making a promise to only have someone bring it up months later?  Well, I do.  This happened to me at the beginning of January.  Apparently, I promised my mother and Will that I would babysit his friend's children for many hours while they all went out.  While I vaguely remember saying that I would do this, I do not remember saying the other things I supposedly did.  For example, I know that I did not say I would babysit the whole weekend.  Why on earth would I say that? Who wants to be with little kids for that many hours?

Yet, there I was, in a condo meeting the four children I would spend the next five hours of my life with.  Will also did not help with this situation.  He kept telling me and my sister how much of a horror one of the kids was.  Thanks.  I appreciate that so much.  Needless to say, my sister and I were not psyched, but we wanted money.

About sums up why I babysit.  Photo Courtesy of: Hamptons Babysitters

We were all sitting in the living room getting to know each other before the adults left.  My sister was getting to know the baby.  When the father suggested to my sister that I could help if she got tired, the wife turned to him and said that I was not to touch the baby.  For reals?  Apparently I had told her that I had no experience with babies.  While I do not babysit babies every day, I have seen, touched, heard, held, and taken care of at least one baby in recent years.  I promise not to kill it.  Honestly, I just wanted to parents to leave so I could begin the inevitable. 

Some parents make a way bigger deal out of leaving their children than necessary.  You are coming back, aren't you?  Just shut the door and wave goodbye.  Since there were two families (not counting mine) leaving their children, the goodbyes took forever.  One dad was saying goodbye to his child, I'll call him David (not his real name).

David was in the bathroom so the encounter went like this:

*knock, knock*  "You alright in there, buddy?"

No response from David.

"Well, use some spray when you're done."  That is quality parenting right there, thank you father of David for that.

The mom came rushing back in looking for David because she had yet to say goodbye to him.  When she found him she came out all exasperated.  We looked at her all confused.

"David stuck something in his ear!"

Seriously, David?

So there we were.  Everyone was trying to help, but no one wanted to push it in further, so their help did not really do much.  Eventually the mother decided to take him to the clinic.

At this point I was tired and hungry.  I played a tantalizing game of Scrabble and Memory with the two other boys while eating four pieces of pizza.  I lost at both games after legitimately trying.  My talents are limited.  At least losing is better than spending two hours with a screaming baby like Claire did.

Eventually David came home with his mother.  His little Lego piece was in a cute container for him to keep forever.  David's mother was not pleased with him.  It took five doctors to get it out.  Why'd you do that, David?  Why did you think that sticking something in your ear was a good idea?

When Claire actually asked him a similar question, he replied innocently, "It was in the bathroom."

So now every time I walk into a room, I am going to stick the first small thing I see into my ear or other part of my face.

The night was not all bad or hectic though, I got some good pizza, ate some wonderful ice cream, and watched a TV show about a murderer.  Oh, and I earned seventy-five bucks.  It was worth it.

Ciao

Camille