Babysitting

I've kept my eight month old niece and five year old nephew for the last day and a half. I've forgotten how much work small people can be. My niece slept in our room last night and was up and down all night (strange place), though she was certainly a happy little person most of the time. We played and rocked and played and drank bottles and rocked and slept and played and ate and changed diapers and drank bottles and rocked and slept and played . . . I now smell like formula and need a bath as well as sleep.

My nephew kept his cousins hopping and I must say they demonstrated a huge amount of patience. He is a terrific, imaginative little boy with endless energy. They played outside with him and read to him and shared toys and made him PBJ sandwiches. Daniel (my second oldest) even got up with him during the night, and changed his wet sheets and clothes and resettled him. The only reason we knew he'd done it was because he got concerned about a cough Kyle couldn't seem to get rid of and came and got Gary. We sleep with the windows open and Kyle has allergies. Once they closed the window, the problem largely resolved itself.

This evening, after my husband and I had ushered my sister and her husband and kids out the door, we came back in to find all four boys lying prone on the livingroom floor a variety of funny positions, pretending to be asleep.

My sentiments exactly.