Learning Patience

I now babysit a little girl on Tuesday's and Thursdays from 9am until about 1pm. Her name is Lillie and she is about 5 months older than Will. Today was the first day she came over and it was a bit of a whirlwind. I learned that my house is definitely not baby proof yet. She and Will were into EVERYTHING. Toys were scattered, DVD's thrown across the floor, pictures fallen, windows broken, parents screaming etc, etc. Ok, maybe not quite that extreme.

I finally just sat in front of the TV for a while so they would stop opening the cupboards and pulling everything out. But then Lillie wanted to climb the stairs. And let me tell you, she is one persistent kid! Even if I sat in front of her or tried to stop her, she'd just try to climb right over me! Haha. Though it was a bit crazy today, I'm sure I'll be better prepared next time and I know it's going to get better. There are just a few things I think I'm going to have to invest it:

1. Some fun/interactive kid movies and shows
2. A gate for the stairs
3. New tire or pump to fix the jogging stroller so we can all go on walks.
4. Some patience to handle two crazy kids

Thank goodness for books. These two little munchkins LOVE to read and spent most of the morning looking at different books and playing with the book that makes noises when you flip the pages.

Seriously, it wasn't that bad. The first hour made me nervous and I was scared the rest of the day was going to drag that long. But then suddenly it was lunch time, and then it was time for her to go. Lillie and Will played well together for the most part. Lillie seemed to want the toys that Will was playing with, and luckily Will didn't mind when she took them away. He just grabbed the next closest thing and continued playing. He did manage to grab her hair once or twice. But don't worry, she didn't let him get away with it. Soon enough, she had a fistful of his hair also. And boy did he not like that. Maybe one day he'll learn that getting your hair pulled hurts and he'll stop pulling mine. That will be the day....

I'm very optimistic about this arrangement and think it'll be good. It's really going to force me to interact with the kids more instead of me being my usual lazy self. Gone are the days where I simply place Will on the floor while I use the computer or do whatever else I want. And I'm happy for that change. I haven't exactly been the best parent as of yet, so hopefully this will help me be better. And I know that Will appreciates not being alone with me all the time. Having someone for him to play with will be nice.

 Bring it on!