Babysitting

I no longer hire baby sitters for kate; however I do hire people to hang out with her. A subtle difference probably only a mother would notice. But now Kate is a bonafide baby sitter herself. She had her first baby sitting job over the weekend. Jam packed Saturday with Chinese lessons, soccer game in the rain and then off to dinner in even more pouring rain. She and 'the child' had met before and settled in nicely for their evening together, asking anxiously every 5 minutes, when are you, the parents, leaving. The pizza arrived and we, the parents, left for a dinner 2 blocks down the avenue. Actually I didn't think about them at all. Nevermind that I had my cell phone out on the table in the midst of our dinner. They had a great time together, cleaned up their mess and in general were models of probity. On the way home Kate kept remarking how smart this little was. Luckily for Kate the child said the same thing about Kate. Can you imagine if your charge goes back and tells their parents that you're dumber than dirt.

And oh yes, she got paid. Her mother asked me what I thought she should get paid and so the mothers negotiated the fee. I opted for less. Certainly less than what I pay my people who hang out with Kate.

the rain passed and Sunday dawned bright and early in a household that was for once quite soundly asleep. I got up late -- 7:30 am -- and then we rolled into action. Out to the Park for Miss Murray, lunch out with Grandma Dot and then a long walk home through the westside and then over to the smart east side. By that time I've had enough of this action stuff and it's a nap for me.