Around The Table

As I sat down to the dinner table at my aunt's house on Erev Rosh HaShana, I noticed how much it has changed in the past ten years, how much the seating arrangement and the people around it had changed. Yes, I know many things change in ten years, but I did not expect to see my role, the new teenager who recently started high school, played out by the oldest of my younger cousins, M. It never occurred to me that I would see myself in my younger cousin. Nor was I expecting to be placed in my older cousins' shoes.

Ten years ago, only one set of my older cousins had children (two daughters), and the other two sets of cousins were married, but no children (yet). Ten years ago, it was I who had just entered high school, I who did not want to be placed at the "children's table" (which essentially just consisted of myself and my younger brother), I who wanted so badly to sit and talk with my cousins like the adult I thought I was. It was I who was being asked about high school and what teachers I had, about the homework, classes, and books I had to read.

But as we sat down to begin our meal this year, I realized that it was not myself caught between childhood and adulthood, it was not I who had just entered high school and wanted to sit with adults in my family. I was already there. I was sitting at the table with the adults, talking to them as if I was one. M, my fourteen year old cousin, was in the role I used to play, and I was playing the role of the older cousin, the one she wanted to sit next to, to talk to, the one she looked up to. 

As she and I walked to my aunt's (her grandmother) house the next day from synagogue, talking like we never have before, I realized how nice it was to finally be at this point, to be able to talk to her more like the adult she is becoming, instead of the child she used to be. Then I thought to myself how nice it was that things were coming full circle, and that who knows, maybe in ten years, she will have the same revelations as I just did.

Three Weeks With J

The first three weeks in February I spent babysitting my three and half year old cousin while her regular babysitter was on vacation. For her age, she is extremely bright and very well spoken. She also has to tell you every little thing that has happened, is happening, or will happen, in precise detail. These are some of my favorite stories from those weeks (and the ones I remember).

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Thursday, February 4th:
I went to Target and Jewel with her, and while there, I gave her a "job" to do to keep her occupied (crossing off items on the list, but I had to point them out to her since she cannot read yet). When we got back to her house, I thanked her for her help.
Me: Thank you for your help today, J. You were really a big help.
J: K. I know.


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While at Target, I bought her a small Barbie bathtub set. She could not wait to get home and open it. She was so excited, she insisted on holding it the whole time while there and in the car on the way home. When we got home, I spent ten minutes opening it up, getting out all the little pieces, and removing all the plastic pieces that holds it all in place. When I was done, she sat down on the floor and played with it. Ten minutes later....

J: Uh, Jill, I don't want this anymore.
Me: What?
J: Well, I didn't really want this.
Me: Then why did you ask for it? You said you were sure.
J: Well, what I really wanted was the phone, not this. (We saw a fake cell phone there, too, which she fingered for two seconds.)
Me: Well, J, it's too late now. I bought it, paid for it, and opened it up. I can't return it now. You're stuck with it. If you don't want it, don't play with it.
J: Ok. 

The next day, she spent an hour playing with it.


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Friday, February 5th:
I was playing with her after I had come back from The Oprah Winfrey Show. I do not recall exactly what I said, but this is the conversation:
J: WHAAAAATTTT?
Me, laughing: Where'd you learn that? School, J? (Her brother's name also begins with J.)
J: Hannah Montana
Me: Oh. How lovely.
(Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana actually says, "Say what?" For those of you who do not know what that sounds like, watch this. J says it the exact same way.)


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J has a brother who is four and half years older than her, whose name also begins with J. They have a typical brother-sister relationship, except for one thing: J does not take any c*ap from her brother. In fact, for a three and half year old, she is downright bossy with him. For this story, she will be J1, and he will be J2.  

Tuesday, February 10th:
It is about 5PM. J's brother, J2, is home from school. I was upstairs in the dining room, reading a book, and J1 and J2 were downstairs, watching tv. I did not hear the beginning of the conversation, and did not really hear all of J2's part of the conversation, but here is what I heard:

J1: ...You hit pause, and don't unpause it. You can do that when I come back.
J2: Ok.
J1: J, just pause it. I'm going upstairs and when I come back, we'll unpause it.
J2 responded, which I did not hear.
J1: Ok, I'm going upstairs now. Don't unpause it. I'll be right back.
J1 runs upstairs and throws something away in the garbage. She then runs back downstairs, and I hear:
J1: J, you unpaused it! Why did you do that? I told you not to do that!

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Tuesday, February 16th:
We are standing outside, waiting for her carpool, and J was kind of gliding/sliding in the snow on the sidewalk.
Me: J, why are you walking in the snow?
J: I'm cleaning the sidewalk!
Me: Oh, ok. Good job. Keep going.

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Thursday, February 18th
We are playing Uno for the billionth time, and at one point when it is my turn, I placed a "Draw Two" card down and then it was her turn...
J (upon seeing the card): Whaaat?
Me, laughing: What?
J: Say what? Say what? Say what? (Just like the Hannah Montana video above.)
I cracked up.

Playing Chutes and Ladders, just the two of us:
J: We don't know who's going to win. Either you're going win, or I'm going to win. So it's going to be you or me.
Me: Yes, well, considering that it's only the two of us playing, then yes, it has to be one of us.

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Saturday, February 20th:

I babysat for them Saturday night, and before her parents left, they put her to bed. Her dad took her into her room for bed, and I heard:

J: Leave the door open because I'm going to get up later because I'll wake up.

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General J'isms:
J, when referring to anything in the past, no matter when: One daaaaay agoooo....

She also says "like" quite a lot (and she is not even a teenager yet).
J: Like, one daaaay agoooooo, I went to like, the store with my daddy, and like, we, like....


That is all I can think of for now, and considering my three weeks with her are over, I do not think I will have any more for awhile. Hope everyone got a laugh out of these!

One Of Those Days

Do you ever have one of those days where you are exhausted, can't seem to keep your eyes open, yet, somehow the day passes by very quickly, but you have no idea how that happened? Today was that day for me. Not a bad day, but definitely not a good day. I slept horribly last night, got up at an ungodly hour in the morning, yet, somehow, managed to make it to 6PM without a nap. To top it all off, I actually got a few hours of studying done!

But here I sit. It is almost 6PM, I am watching my cousin, playing endless games of Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook, and listening to music to drown out my little cousins' music. And now the time is dragging. It is too late for a nap and I cannot study because I am too exhausted, yet I have nothing to do. What does that leave me? Time to think. I hate that. I do not want to think, about anything, especially today when I am going on about three hours of sleep. But especially about the one thing I cannot seem to keep my thoughts away from the past few days. I do not want to think about that. I refuse to think about that. I want to avoid it, and everything about it.

Yet, here I am, sitting, blogging, and thinking about it somewhat. I would work on other blog posts if I thought they would come out even the least bit coherent, just to get my mind on something else, but I do not think I would even understand what I would try to write. I guess I will go back to playing endless games Bejeweled Blitz.

Adventures with Ashley

For the month of August I am watching my one and a half year old cousin Ashley (the same Ashley from Adventures in Babysitting), so I decided to do a different take on my "Adventures in Babysitting" post and do one about Ashley. As the month continues, I will add to it, but here are some Ashley-isms for now.

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UPDATE (8/11/09):

I was in the kitchen today, putting away the groceries, when Ashley walked in, started spinning around (don't ask), and bumped into a plastic folding step-ladder that was leaning against the stove. She stopped, looked at it, and said "'Cue me" ("Excuse me" in Ashley-speak) to the ladder.

She also said "Sorry" to the slide in the park today when she bumped into it.

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Today (8/5/09), while at Indian Boundary Park, we went to the little "zoo" area and saw goats. After looking for awhile, I told Ashley to say bye-bye to the goats. She looks at the goats, waves, and says, "Bye-bye big doggies."

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The other day she and I were walking up and down her block (she wanted to go "ou-sie"). There was no one around, and I had a song stuck in my head, so I started singing. Ashley, while walking in front of me, puts her hands up to her ears and covers them right after I start singing. I look at her, laugh, and say, "I know I'm not that good, but I'm not that bad! Thanks, kid."

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My cousins do not have an actual back door; they have a side door, but never use it. So they use the front door. But they both park their cars in the garage, and that means walking through the backyard to get to the front. Now, Ashley loves being outside. She would happily spend all day outside (put a TV outside with iCarly playing and she's in heaven). So, whenever one of her parents, or I, park in the garage when we get to their house, we have the task of actually getting her inside the house.

Monday, I parked in the garage after running a few errands with her. As we are walking through the backyard, she starts veering off to the side (as usual) and to her large playhouse. As she is veering, I am standing by the gate saying, "C'mon Ashley. Let's go inside," to no avail. Then, she looks at me, waves at me, and says, "Bye-bye." I burst out laughing. (Yes, I did get her inside. I bribed her with "Carly!")

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That is all for now. As I said, I will update as the month continues, and as Ashley comes up with other adorable things, which I know she will.

Adventures in Babysitting

While I was babysitting the other night, I came up with a great blog post. I decided to post all the funny, silly, crazy, and sometimes stupid things that happen in the years I have been babysitting. While there is no way I will remember everything, I will add what I do remember (and keep updating it as I remember or as it happens). Below are some of my adventures.

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While I was babysitting last night, my two charges (my cousins, Jordan and Julia, ages 7 and 3 respectively) and I played Go Fish, twice. Here is what happened the second time we played.

Me: Julia, do you have a six?
Julia: Dammit.
Me: Excuse me, what did you say?
Julia looks at me innocently.
Her older brother, Jordan, leans over and says in her ear, "Say no."
Me: Jordan, don't tell her that. Julia, what did you say?
Julia still does not answer.
Me: Julia, I don't want to hear you say that again. Ever. It's not something we say.
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In other babysitting adventures, I was once watching my one and a half year old cousin, Ashley, when the little schmagegge absconded with my cup of orange juice. My cup of juice was in the den, on the side table (in the corner, enclosed by two couches). I left the room for not even a minute, and left Ashley on one of the couches, watching TV (probably her beloved iCarly). When I returned, she was not in there. I walked around the kitchen and dining room calling her name, looking and listening for her. I found nothing. I went back into the dining room, looked toward the living room and I saw her. I approached her, and to my delight chagrin, found her sitting on the floor with my cup of orange juice in her hands, and much of it down the front of her shirt and on the rug. She looked up at me, held up the cup, and grinned widely at me, so proud of herself. (Apparently, she crawled over on the couch to the table and grabbed my cup. How she got it all the way to living room without spilling it I have no idea.) Of course, I had to laugh. And then vowed never to leave anything except kid toys within her reach again.
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I was not babysitting in this next story, but I was at my cousins house, helping them clean before Pesach. Their oldest, Zoe, who is seven, was still up, and was in the kitchen talking to my boyfriend (who came to help) and me. In the course of the conversation, she stated that she has a boyfriend and told us his name. Here is the rest of it:

Me: So, how did you meet?
Zoe: School.
Me: And how's it going between you two?
Zoe: Well, he thinks we broke up, but we didn't, and I'm not going to tell him we didn't.

My boyfriend and I burst out laughing, and I thought "Oh, boy, is she going to be trouble when she's older."
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Those are my stories for now. Like I said, I'll update as I remember or when anything new happens. In the meantime, feel free to share your stories! They don't have to be about babysitting; they can be about your kids, grandkids, nieces and/or nephews, etc., but share! I'd love to hear!

They Grow Up So Fast

"Time only seems to matter when it's running out"
-Peter Strup

They really do. I spent last week babysitting my seven year old cousin, in the week between when school ends and camp begins. Yes, it was utterly exhausting, and at times (very) frustrating, but I would not trade it for the world.

I spent much time watching TV shows and playing games I would never play myself. She's into Hannah Montana, iCarly, Polly Pocket, and all that other lovely pop culture stuff for kids her age. But as I sat there playing It's In The Money or watching iCarly with her, I realized that I probably do not have very much time left in which to do this with her. She is seven, and getting older each day. In a few years, she probably will not want to hang out with her "older" cousin, or spend time with me. She will want to go off and be with her own friends and do her own thing. It won't be cool to be dragged around by seen with her older cousin, and I cannot blame her.

But it did make me realize that it is the same situation with all of my other cousins, all ten of them. They range in ages from four months to twelve years old, and while I may still have time with the younger ones, truth is, time flies. We all know that. And life gets in the way, theirs and mine. So, I decided that for now, I am just going to cherish the time I do have with them, and if when that day comes where they do not want to hang out with me, I will (hopefully) accept it, and remember that I was once their age and felt the same way they do.