I spent an interesting day off yesterday. I was assigned babysitting duties. I am to do it again today. These two days I am off before going back to work on Thursday happen to fall during spring break. A regular sitter wasn't to be found and since I tend to bump around my own house on days off I took charge of Selma's 6 year old son. It was an interesting day.
He came fully equipped with juice boxes and a personal VCR (correction...it is a DVR player). We started out the morning with coffee and hot chocolate - guess who had which. He followed me upstairs and played with Sonny or Dante's old game of battleship on the floor while I got my minimum mandatory 30 minutes of book writing done. I was actually allowed 40 minutes before the game was re-organized, all ships in one slot, red pegs in another and white pegs in yet another slot. He did a good job of putting it all away. Then he was ready for his own movie which he took care of all by himself and watched very quietly.
I had been out of town and needed to get some grocery shopping done. When he was finished with his movie I got him into my car, we picked up a few things, came back to the house and had lunch. Then we shared books. He showed me his vtech reader and I showed him my nook. He liked the way mine turned pages by swiping the bottom menu area with a finger. He turned a lot of my pages. Then he showed me his reader. It read outloud while highlighting each word as it was read. It made sounds when you put your plastic pencil on pictures. It had a word list that would give you definitions. All mine would do is turn pages. So he let his book read to him while I tried to read mine. It was just a little more difficult to concentrate on murderous dark fae while hearing cartoonish safety tips but the goldfish we were sharing seemed to help.
Sonny called about that time to check up on us. I told him we were reading and had gone to the store. Sonny asked, "Did he sit in the front seat?" I probably answered too quickly since I didn't instantly remember that a child usually sits in back but I said, "Where did you want me to put him? In the trunk?"
I drive a convertible two seater. I have no back seat. Sonny was also relieved that I wasn't encouraging him to stuff handfuls of goldfish in his mouth at once. I think he misunderstood me. "I said, I told him they taste better if he eats one at a time." "Oooh!"
I realized a little later my charge was having a small fright session with my closet. He seemed to be afraid of it and wanted me to close the door. It didn't make sense to me and my lack of, or my logic, or my...well...I told him there wasn't anything in there but my clothes. He wasn't convinced. I said sooo...do you think my clothes are scary? He considered. Do you think I have scary clothes? Do you think they will come out on their hangers and do what? By then I think he was trying not to laugh, picturing flying clothes circling the room on their hangers. I'm not sure he was fully convinced but we never closed the door to the closet. It made me think I need to go through it again and replace some of my scarier (old) pieces...you know, for new non-scary ones.
I think Sonny and Selma might have been worried about how the little one was behaving. He did well.
I think now they might be more worried about me.
TT
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