Playdate with the cousins

I've spent most of today babysitting my cousins and my evening has been spent decompressing.

My neck's sore and my sweater's stretched out but I'm otherwise alright, except for the fatigue. They're a bit of a handfull. Not bad kids, but on the undisciplined side.

Part way thorough their father came home and he began immediately to follow them around, nattering, fussing and cleaning. As always, they take this as a cue to act up and are a lot worse than they are when their parents aren't around.

I compare him to me. If the kids leave a bunch of books or toys all over the floor, meh, maybe they're not done with them yet. I don't much care if they shreik a bit because that's what kids do. If they get themselves sticky with food then there's no point in scolding them, though I won't hesitate to manhandle them into the bathroom and give them a good scrubbing.

I will however crack down on the practice of chewing the edges of the coffee table because "it makes it hard to run in the living room." I will proclaim loudly that I think the practice of eating used bandaids picked off one's injuries is gross and I solidly refuse to talk to girls who run around with no pants on.

If one of them decides to ride her bike without a helmet into the middle of the street, she will get locked into the back yard. I will watch from a distance as she tries to undo the latch on the gate, only to find that once the latch is open, the chair she is standing on is in the way of the gate. When she gets down to move the chair, the latch will close itself and she'll still be locked in. I will try hard to stifle my giggles.

When this results in a tantrum that involves screaming, crying, rolling on the ground and eating wads of grass, I will completely ignore the attention-seeking behaviour.

Then we will all go inside, curl up on the couch, watch a movie and they will tell me that they like me best.