April 22, 2004 - 9:09 p.m.

Almost Over

This week has made me realize how grateful I am that during the morning hours all three kids I care for are in school. We've had a fair bit of fun, but 11.5 hour days are exhausting, especially when they involve supervising kids in crowded public spaces, zero alone time (even my time in the loo doesn't count, since it's usually then that one of the kids desperately needs me), and having to enforce chores that the parents want them to do yet somehow can't find time to supervise themselves. I've survived trips to the zoo, a historical museum, the aquarium, an arts and crafts center, and the grocery store all with my triune entourage. So, tonight I treated myself to dinner out. It was peaceful, grownup, and yummy. :)

Don't get me wrong, a lot of the week has been fun. We've laughed at each other, oohed and ahhed at all kinds of fish and animals, basked in the perfect weather, and eaten ice cream. Also, the sustained interaction really fleshes out my knowledge of the kids. On school days, our time is kept to a pretty narrow routine, so I miss out on some of the nuances of their ever-changing characters. M, a textbook middle child, is sticking up for herself more and, though only a first grader, is a fabulous reader. B's vocabulary, at age 5, encompasses the words domination, organize, archaeologist, and more, and he does a mean impression of tap dancing. H's sense of humor is perfectly suited to the Lemony Snicket books, which she is reading at the rate of nearly one per day, and though she claims to hate math, she spontaneously does simple computations, like totaling our admission fees at a museum, with ease and enthusiasm. It's fun to work with such smart kids, with whom I can get into a conversation about what sorts of materials are porous and nonporous. :) Tomorrow, I only have to watch the kids for a couple of hours, then the entire family heads off to New Hampshire, so I will have the house to myself for a while.

To add to my caretaking tasks this week, I cleaned Percy's cage and gave him a bath this evening. He really needed the bath, since parts of his fur were tending more toward taupe than white. He does NOT like getting wet, but it is fun to rub him dry afterwards. With his prickles and restlessness swathed in a towel, he is almost cuddly. And his little black nose and beady eyes peaking out from the folds is a sight of unbearable cuteness. I even managed to clip his toenails, which is a real feat, let me tell you. The combination of tiny feet, curved nails, sharp quills, and a severe case of the wiggles, does not make for an easy pedicure!

I stole the following from a friend's LiveJournal. It was so lighthearted and silly, that I couldn't pass it up.

EXOTIC FOREIGNER ALIAS: (Favorite Spice + Last Foreign Vacation Spot)

Ginger Aruba

SOCIALITE ALIAS: (Silliest Childhood Nickname + Town Where You First Partied)

Pooh Chattanooga

"FLY GIRL" ALIAS (a la J. Lo): (First Initial + First Two or Three Letters of your Last Name)

K Bru (this sounds like either a bad batch of homemade beer or a terrible energy drink)

DIVA ALIAS: (Something Sweet Within Sight + Any Liquid in Kitchen)

Candy Honey

GIRL DETECTIVE ALIAS: (Favorite Baby Animal + Where You Went to High School)

Rhinosceros Tennessee (I took the liberty of using Tennessee, since I already used Chattanooga, and TN sounds better.)

BARFLY ALIAS: (Last Snack Food You Ate + Your Favorite Drink)

Pretzel Woo Woo (tee hee)

SOAP OPERA ALIAS: (Middle Name + Street Where You First Lived)

Nicole Hibbard (actually, that wasn't the first street on which I lived, but I don't know the first)

(Or Middle Name + Elementary School)

Nicole St. Clare (now THAT'S a soap name!)

PORN STAR ALIAS: (First Pet's Name + Street You Grew Up On)

Brandy Hibbard, or alternatively, Brandy Rosewood.

today's project: safely shepherding three kids around the NE Aquarium

Did you know? Bees harvest honeydew, the liquid left behind by feeding aphids, as well as nectar.

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flutter back - fly ahead