Babysitting

Memories of a bag filled with activities, worrying about the noises of someone else's house, and playing on the floor with kids to earn pocket money.  It hasn't changed much in twenty-five years.

The Sprouts and I had our first gig with a little person today.  It was busy and far more tiring than we anticipated.  I had completely forgotten how much attention and focus toddlers take.

Although we are tired, we had a good day.

To entertain our little guest we pulled out the little-kid toy bins that we keep just for these kind of occasions.

A few non-little-kid toys came out to play as well.  Our little guest was pretty nervous around the dog to start the day.  By the time she went home she was feeding her treats and telling her to sit. 

First on the agenda was making our lunch; homemade pizza buns.  Each of the kids stretched their own dough, spread pizza sauce and sprinkled toppings.  I did the rolling and slicing to make cinnamon-bun-shaped pizzas.

The end results was good enough that the picky Sprout ate three.  Definitely going on the do-again list of recipes.  And the leftovers went in the freezer for school lunches.  Double win!

Next we had an interest in going outside.  Borrowing from my mom's activity set I suggested washing the car.  Another win!  Playing with the hose was enjoyed by everyone.  We had a few conflicts over sharing the hose, but overall a good time was had.  And we ended up with a clean(ish) car.

Since the car was clean and the kids weren't tired of the hose, we pulled out an old bike to scrub up as well.

Now to find a list of activities to keep them all busy on Thursday...