Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Pretend Parenting, Part I

Well, I am doing a long, overnight babysitting job (Wed-Sat), so I thought I might actually have some blog worthy happenings in my life. It seems as though to have a successful blog you must either be a parent or traveling abroad in some exotic country. (Although I did have a fabulous trip to Seattle, which included a chocolate factory tour -- complete with hair nets --, miles of walking, and great conversation. Yay for short get-aways!).

I am watching three kids, ages 21 months - 5 years. To put things in perspective, my brave "adventure" today was piling the three kids into the minivan and going to QFC. Those kids carts with the car in the front look fun but man are they hard to steer! I felt my obliques really working as I tried to avoid crashing into any food displays (I'll count that as my workout for the day, thanks). The kids did fairly well, although I did have to repeatedly threaten to take away their special treat, which their parents left for an evening snack, along with a sweet note. I would have felt too heartless withholding this, so I gave in to empty threats.

The 5 year old was on the right track when he cleaned out his soccer cleats by banging the soles together. He erred when he did it in the middle of the carpet, sending grass chunks EVERYWHERE (man, those things can hold a lot of grass!).

For dinner, I introduced the kids to Sloppy Joes, which they seemed to enjoy. The 3 1/2 year old is on a modified Atkins diet, which, from what I can tell, consists of hot dogs, pretzels, Otter pops, and fruit. He did surprise me by eating 1/2 of his sloppy joes (sans bun, of course) before deciding he didn't like them afterall.

I hope I can keep them busy for the next 2 1/2 days. I have an even greater appreciation for stay at home moms, especially during the summer months. I have a few things up my sleeve, such as an egg hunt (which I'm hoping we can recreate dozens of times), playing with balloons (which seem to be the timeless, tireless toy), making cookies, and meeting my mom and sister for lunch for moral support. And trips to the park, of course.

So here's to all those brilliant moms who tackle this stuff day in and day out without the incentive of being able to sit on the couch for 48 hours eating ice cream after their "shift" ends.

2 comments:

Afton said...

Knocking over a store display with large, hard to maneuver car cart: CHECK! So embarrassing too, especially since I was totally hot rodding and it was kind of my fault.

Good luck and enjoy your 48 hours because you will have earned them.

p.s. I think getting 3 kids in the car and going to QFC should be an Olympic event...no kidding.

Heather said...

After using one of those car carts, I definitely concur. PLUS, those things are so loud that EVERYONE in the store knows you are coming. (At least mine was...it sounded like some huge truck barreling through the isles--not to mention that it steers like one!) Haha.