Adventures in Babysitting

Friday night, I had such a treat. I got to spend a few hours with two of my favorite little people in the world: two of my nieces. I convinced their Mom to join their Dad at a work event and I descended with Shrek in hand for a few hours of fun before bedtime. And, let's be honest, bedtime is 8 pm, so I'm no real saint!

I got there in time to help with bath time (a must that night, as Ella had found the sunscreen and generously coated herself and her little sister in the coconutty goodness), then a hamburger and tatter tot dinner. Are you guys listening? Babies LOVE tots. I'm adding them to the must-have list, right behind goldfish, skittles, and marshmallows.

Once we shooed Mommy and Daddy out, we got down to business and watched Shrek. News flash to Aunt A: even PG movies have adult themes. I got bogged down trying to explain why Fiona was crying, but I wasn't about to tell these little innocent hearts, who have no idea what "ugly" or "self-conscious" really mean, that Fiona was upset because she found herself too ugly to get the guy. And for Christmas, Auntie A sent you that check for therapy she promised.

So there I was, so pathetically failing to explain why Fiona was crying (feeling ugly, remember?), why the dragon was crying (feeling lonely and defeated), and how Fiona wishes she could change into a beautiful girl so a man would love her without actually talking about any of those topics. How do parents do it? I asked my sister and brother-in-law when they got home and they said, "Oh no, you have to go with the easy answers. Lost blanket. Stubbed toe. That's about all they're in for as of now." Live and learn.

We loved the video (and the cookies and milk we sampled on the couch) and then, then came bedtime. Sienna went right down after a few "Where's Mommy?"s, but Ella proved a little more difficult. She baited me back upstairs twice, calling into the monitor, "AAAAAaaaa!" I'd head up there and find her sitting on her night stand asking about what happened to Fiona, which I later found out was a stall tactic. Brilliant.

B came over a few hours later, which felt totally high school and fabulous. We watched some bad tv until the 'rents got home and just enjoyed the feeling of hanging out in a house instead of an apartment for a night. I can't wait for that day!