Adventures in Babysitting

I spent the weekend taking care of Miss Lauren and Miss Emersyn. Oh my. I'm just glad we all survived each other. Such sweet kids and not really hard to care for at all, but…(there's always a big but!), I am not young anymore. And there were stairs. So my already overweight body had to pack yet another 25 lbs. or so up and down stairs several times a day. I remember stairs in a couple of our houses, and I felt very differently about them then, than I do now. Of course I was much thinner and youthful. Poor Lauren had to play by herself in the toy room upstairs because Granny wouldn't go up and down them even more. She did great though. Even picked up and put away all her dress-ups that she got out. We had a few chair and bowl gymnastics in the kitchen, but no one is permanently damaged. Emersyn just played and crawled or slept, right on schedule. Her only real protests were diaper changes. She hates her diaper changed. I wish I had taken my camera with me, but like the dork I am, I forgot it. She would crawl away from the toys, come back around the couch and just peek around the corner. She would look at me until I looked over, and then she would pull her head back. Pretty soon here her little face would be peeking around again. I think she was deciding if I was paying any attention to her. So cute. I decided to make some bread my first day there to see if I could work out a recipe for Taya. During my mixing time I looked over and Emersyn was sitting on the floor just staring at the cabinets. I couldn't see what had her rapt attention. About then she did the whole eyes closed and unfocused to trying to keep them open thing and I realized she needed her nap. She never once cried about going to bed. A girl after my own heart - she loves her bed. Lauren protested some about sleep time, but once in bed was fine.

I don't have the mother's ears I used to, so I don't sleep well when in charge of small people. I'm afraid I won't hear them if they wake up, so I just don't sleep very deep. All in all though, it was an adventure. I now know all about Barbie Rapunzel, Barbie Swan Lake, Barbie Nutcracker, various baby einstein scenarios, Tinkerbell, Enchanted, Toy Story, Chicken Little (the sky is falling you know), just to mention a few of the visual aids.

I know my kids will all roll their eyes when I say…“I know why we have our children while we are young.” I so admire our mothers for all the work, both physical and emotional that go into their families every day. I know I did it at your ages, and am glad. There's nothing like caring for a family that makes you grow and mature. There's nothing like looking at the mother's you all have become and seeing that all the parenting was so worth it.

I hope Taya and Kevin know that I do feel the pain of watching Gramma Pearl during this hard time. You are all in my prayers all the time. With all the trauma and even the drama, we just need to be still and know God is a loving parent and all will be well. I know his will, will be done and we need to accept and realize it's all good. To have faith and to trust is difficult, but once we accept he does what is best for us all, there is comfort. I know all will be well. Glad you were able to go. I love you.