Was I Really This Young?

No, younger! I was ten years old when I started "working" as a mother's helper for a lady down the street. She had a little boy, Adam, and I would go over and watch him while she working in the garden or did other things around the house. I think I started babysitting soon after - middle school maybe? I was a mature kid and pretty responsible, but WHAT WERE THESE PEOPLE THINKING?!

Yesterday, four of my former students and softball stars came over to babysit. They are now in 9th grade and have been begging to come babysit. We have been trying to find a date for months, finally we settled on a date: Sunday from 3-5pm. They are very responsible girls whom I care for dearly.

When Maximo was in the hospital, they came up to the NICU and surprised me with hot chocolate (no caffeine because they knew I was breastfeeding) and a chocolate chip cookie from Starbucks. They brought little balloons and stuffed animals for Maximo. I had stepped out of the NICU to get a breather and post a blog, I think, and found them roaming around the hospital looking for me.

They also came to the house one night after he was born to bring me/him gifts. This was before the hospital visit (they were determined). It was a rough day, so I hid in the bedroom while John took their gifts. All they wanted to do was to congratulate me and see the baby. They are very, very sweet; I'm glad they couldn't fathom what I was going through at the time. Maybe they did, and wanted to give me a distraction, because with the four of them together, that's exactly what they are - a giggly group of teenage girls.

So, today, they got dropped off at 3:00. Max had just woken up from his nap. He was being pretty clingy to me and acting shy and wouldn't really even walk in front of the girls, so I suggested that they take him to the park. The park is only a block away, and I made them promise to be SUPER careful crossing the street. I was nervous, but I knew I had to do it! Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang...

Oh no, I thought.

It was two of the girls wanting to know if I had a camera they could use. Sure...

Maximo came back with all his fingers and toes an hour later, though still perplexed by the gaggle of girls swarming around him. And lucky for me, I have pictures for evidence to see how their stroll went. At least there were four of them, so they could take turns, sunbathing and talking on their cellphones (ha!). They said he was a bit fussy in the park, which surprised me, because normally he's great and is only fussy when he leaves the park. After looking at these pictures, I think I know why... he was strapped in his stroller for most of the time, and couldn't run around with the other kiddos and all the dogs and most importantly, get dirty!It was actually great, because I got a few essays graded that need to be done by Tuesday!