Sunday, August 24, 2008

Wanna Scar Your Kids? Send 'em to Us!

This weekend we babysat for our niece and nephew. Our niece is 4 and nephew is 2.
Things were going great. We went to the park where they filled their shoes and pockets with the entire contents of the sand box to take back home. We had chicken nuggets and tater tots, a bath with bubbles and watched movies.
Spiderman has spent most of this time amusing himself with his new game "point out how Sarah will be a completely incompetent mother". So what if I almost flung our niece from the swing when I tried to stop it. So what if I can't get the car seat harness to snap right away prompting my niece to say "Auntie Sarah, you're not very good at this." Who cares that by 10am the next morning I was exhausted and ready for them to take their naps. Spiderman says that it's because I can't handle them. And you want kids of your own? he asks. He handles them better. Of course he does. He's not the one who woke up with them at 6am this morning. Instead he slept another 3 hours while we had breakfast that consisted mostly of them crushing Cap'n Crunch into the carpet. He's not the one who's been bathing them and wiping poopy butts. Speaking of poopy butts, can I just say...for a little guy who only ate 4 tater tots, and 2 bites of chicken nugget....he had a poop the size of a grown man at an all-you-can-eat buffet!

When nap time came is when we scarred the children. They were laying in the spare bedroom on the bed bickering, biting, and generally NOT napping. Spiderman suggested we separate them and take one of them into our bedroom. The devastation these two showed at being separated from the sibling that only a few short minutes ago they hated with the fire of a thousand suns was horrific. They sobbed for 10 solid minutes and declared that they wished we weren't their auntie and uncle. But they DID nap. Eventually. After the whimpering died down.
It is now peaceful once again in the Spoonful house. The kitties have even come out of hiding. When they wake up from their naps, we will do some coloring and then return them to their parents at Grandma's birthday party this evening.
I will miss them. Although they are a LOT of work and are Exhausting, I love the little guys and still look forward to having one of my own.
I'm sure I'll get better at it.
Maybe.

7 comments:

said...

The great thing about parenting is that (typically) you get the kid when it's really little and your skills are pretty low. As the kid grows, so do your skills. By the time the kid is 6, you have 6 years of experience dealing with them. See how that works?

JackeeG4glamorous said...

Not thrilled with the supportive spiderman. The REAL Spiderman would be SUPER supportive and not point out your weaknesses, also, he would help out massively with the kids.

Amy Plumb said...

O.k. like Tara said when they are your children they are little when you get them and you grow and learn together.

Age 2 is not a good age to watch and wonder will I be a good parent??? Because even their own parents ask that same question every day I bet. Why do you think you had them for the weekend?? Parents needed a break?? Just kidding.

It sounds like you did just fine to me.
Amy

Mimi's Toes said...

Oh girl, it sounds like you were pretty well beat up. This is just a small taste of what's to come! LOL. You cracked me up, I actually laughed out loud at my desk. Isn't it amazing what DOES come out of their little bodies?

Anonymous said...

Sarah tends to exaggerate a bit. Yes, she changed all TWO of the diapers and got up early.
Aside from that, they were very good and not terribly exhausting. She's still a little upset because children (and animals) don't respect her authority.
And she doesn't quite understand the enjoyment that can be derived from a game I like to call "poke the bear."

Lisa said...

Kids in general are exhausting. No matter how much we try to keep up, they can usually outlast us. You will make a great mom, Sarah! Everyone is so right, you grow right along with your kids.

Melanie Sheridan said...

It's different when they are yours. But, you will still second guess yourself all the time. Goes with the parenting territory.

@Spiderman Oops, Anonymous, This is a G-Rated blog! ;^)