Adventures in Babysitting

My friend Barb was having some babysitter woes and I'm unemployed and having some financial woes. She was in a lurch for having someone take care of her kids and I had much free time on my hands, so I offered to help.

Kids and babysitting aren't my speciality but it's certainly been an eye opener. My day starts at about 7:30am and I'm with them until about 5pm. I'm on my 3rd day and without a word of a lie, I get home at night utterly exhausted. It might also be because I'm getting up at 6am as opposed to the usual "unemployed wake-up call" at 10:30am that I've been accustomed to the last 3 weeks.

I've learned a few things during my quality time with the two kiddios. For one - always give yourself a buffer of being 10 minutes early. Because chances are, those 10 minutes will be lost to doddling, pouting or playing. For two - find your own unique "the look" and use it often. It's quite effective in mediation disputes over toys. And for three - if you play the Gummi Bear song once, be prepared you'll have to play it 10 more times back to back to back!

I also experienced my first ever play group. The kids running around the gym burning off all their energy while the moms sit around these 2 ft high tables drinking coffee, gossiping, knitting, and talking about things like "So are you going to get scraped". I was not prepared to hear about someone else's insides.

Another challenge is that I have major gag reflex. If I smell something like vomit or poop, I start dry heaving and walking the line of throwing up myself. I'm practising the best counter measures I can, but it's not easy explaining to a 3 year old why you have to so aggressively cover your nose and mouth.

I can certainly say I have a whole new appreciation for anyone with babies or young children. It's tough work! I still wonder though, does a spoonful of sugar really help the medicine go down? You may or may not get that.

Tia