11.12.2006

My Biological Clock Is ... Nope. Still Dead.

Contrary to popular belief, I do, in fact, have some motherly instincts.

Today I was babysitting, which is a job for a teenage girl, yes, but also mighty convenient for someone who needs some money and does not want to work at WalMart.

The kids I watch are 9 and 2. They are cute as buttons, fairly well-behaved, and they don't try to sit in my lap all the time.

They were getting a little rowdy this afternoon, and I was on my fourth episode of Danny Phantom (a fine show in moderation, but COME ON), and it was too cold for them to go outside and burn off some steam. They were getting antsy, and I was juuuust at that place where I was fixing to send them both to their rooms and yell, "Calgon, take me awayyyyyyy!" before I started rocking back and forth and humming to myself.

I was well past the eye-rolling stage, is what I'm saying.

So I said, "Kid, I bet you can't run around the kitchen ten times in a minute." This, I knew, was a challenge he could not pass up, as he'd already run back and forth across the living room and tried to get me to say that I couldn't see him because he was moving so fast.

"Time me," he said, and he moved into a runner's stance.

"GO!" I said, and he took off, running around and around and around, while I kept time and counted his laps for him.

"Aw," I said, "you did it in a minute and five seconds. But maybe you could try again in a couple minutes."

Y'all, that child ran around his kitchen about fifty times, while I sat back and pretended not to be AWESOME.

So I could totally do that, you know, mother ... thing. In small increments and for pay. Otherwise ... I'm out.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been subbing in the "After School Program" for a friend who is sick. ASP is "run" by our Rec program, but at the school, so it is 6-16 kids I already know.

We use the gym for free play. I make them all run around at least for a little while. When it is time to move to the compuer lab, I tell them it is a race to see how quickly they can put stuff away. They run around like madmen, but they do it without whining. And they are tired.

Anonymous said...

You mean that's not a good way to "mother"? I do things like this frequently with Husband's children to keep them from burning the house down on the weekend...and I thought I was being clever. :-)

 

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