Winter Confessions

Some of you may remember my summer confessions. I have had such a "got it all together" winter, that I thought it was time for an installment of winter confessions. Ya know, since I've got it all together and stuff.

10. When parents drop their kids off for me to babysit in the morning, I am not wearing my pajamas. And when they come back that afternoon to pick them up, I do not rush upstairs and dress quickly so they don't think I am a big lazy slob. And they are totally tricked because my hair and make-up are perfect too.

9. When I was searching for something in my closet, I did not find a bag full of clothes that I had bought Kate for her birthday. In October. That I didn't even remember that I had lost.

8. My children do not make me want to cuss with their more annoying behaviors. When I am cleaning the toilet, I do not want to scream the name of the stuff that is smeared all over it.

7. I did not have to confess to my mother that I now understood why she talked the way she did when I was a child.

6. While we are at it, my children do not have the incessantly annoying behaviors named above because I am an awesome parent who knows how to properly bring up my children.

5. I did not forget essential ingredients for dinner three times in one week. Twice during spaghetti night. And there aren't that many ingredients in spaghetti.

4. When Will had a stomach virus and he was whining loudly at 5am and I was trying to sleep, I did not tell him that the best thing for a sore tummy was to lie real still, and most importantly to not make any noise.

3. When one of my clients carefully and lovingly prepared food for their child, I did not throw it out because said food would've made an incredible mess and taken me a good 20 minutes to clean up. (And no, client-reading-this-post, I am sure it is not something you fixed. It was someone else.)

2. When my own kids did not want to eat leftovers from new recipes I have been trying out lately, I did not feed them to one client in particular, knowing "Mikey" will eat anything. (And no, client-reading-this-post, it wasn't your child. It was someone else.)

1. I have not stopped taking my children to the library because I racked up so many over-due fines over our Christmas travels that I am embarrassed to show my face there.

And yes, I am dead serious. Especially if you didn't notice any sarcasm.

Poker Face

One of the kids I babysit is O. She is two years old and one of Kate's best buddies. She is an independent little firecracker, and I am constantly left laughing or rolling my eyes.

Her mom is a good friend of mine, and she is a huge Glee fan. (For the uninitiated Glee is a tv show about a high school choir with lots of angst, and they often break into song and dance.) She often listens to the sound track, and so O knows a lot of the songs. One of her favorites is a song called "Poker Face".

Last week, O comes in the room and says, "Hey, Kate! Let's do 'Poker Face'! Come on! Poker Face!" And she starts to sing a tune that I can only assume sounds like "Poker Face" to her, repeating Poker Face over and over.

Kate, who has never heard that song before (at least to my knowledge), gets a look of panic on her face, covers her eyes, and screams, "NO! Don't poke my face! Don't poke my face!"

They had this exact same conversation all day long.

At some point, I should've pulled Kate aside and explained to her what O was talking about, but honestly, I was laughing way too hard.

A Quick Brag

Will got off the bus today, took one look at the mess the babies had made while I was working on the church project, and started cleaning up without me asking. I think it's safe to say that has never happened before. I knew he would help me entertain them (they adore him and follow him around all afternoon), but this was quite unexpected.

I like it. I promise.

I started this post 4 days ago, but I haven't been able to finish it for some reason. Perhaps it is the 5 children in my house? Nah, it's probably that I've just been excited about the LOST finale:)
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I am doing babysitting in my home. Since then I have become aware that several of my friends and family are concerned for my well-being. Or maybe it is my sanity. Either way, I wanted to put their fears to rest.

We are not destitute, and I am not bored. Likewise, I have not lost my mind, and my own children are not being neglected. In fact, my kids actually like it. Kate's first question every morning is, "Who is coming to play today?" Will doesn't want to go to school because he misses the babies while he is gone. Ben is probably the least affected because he goes to school before they get here, but when he steps off the bus, he gives the kids hugs before he gives me one. The kids have learned great lessons about sharing, empathy, and helping because we are caring for others on a daily basis, and they have to help me do it.

And yes, we have had our moments where they are tired and want to be alone, but for the most part, they are really enjoying it.

As for me, my days are definitely more hectic. Don't be surprised if I don't return your phone calls immediately, or if I can't remember what I did yesterday. Or what my kids' names are;) But truth be told, I have always loved taking care of kids. When I was in middle school I used to sneak out of church so I could rock the babies in the nursery. Once I had a license, I spent every summer hauling other people's children to basketball practice and swimming and whatever else, basically earning peanuts.

I like kids. I just do.

So surely it's not too surprising that I have chosen to earn a little extra income babysitting. (Or providing in-home child care, as I call it when I want to remind myself that I'm not in high school anymore.)

The kids I watch are really great kids. They are funny, smart, and sweet. They love to be cuddled and read to and play peek-a-boo. (OK, well maybe not the 7 year old boy, but Ben keeps him entertained.) Their parents are great, which makes my job a whole lot easier. Most of them are toddlers, and I never have more than three at a time. Usually it's just two. I work 4-5 days a week.

And I feel like I am good at what I do. I don't mean to sound boastful. Really, I don't. But I have been doing this for 20 years. And I have parented 3 great kids for the last 7 years. Even though I am not a perfect parent (who is?) or a perfect babysitter (let's not talk about the bed-jumping or the incident involving stairs), kids generally like and listen to me. A careful balancing act.

And when I don't want to do it anymore, I will stop. I am not a martyr. I am doing this because I want to do it.

So, please don't worry for me. Don't worry about my kids. I am a big girl. A grown-up. Well, most of the time:)