behind blue eyes

How do you like the facelift?

Recently, I've been taking care of some new children. They're not the triplets, but they're growing on me. The younger, a boy, N is 6 and his older sister A is 9. They are a pile of fun. I really enjoy spending time with them. We've shared some pretty priceless moments in the last few weeks, as well as some that were really eye opening for me.

Do you want the funny ones or the touching ones first? I'll write the funny one's first and if you want the insightful/rant ones before, just scroll down.

A typical day with these two goes something like this... I pick them up from school, we get a snack either out or at home, then (except for Fridays) we do homework and fart around until mom and dad get home. One particular day we're sitting at TCBY eating our treats and A turns to me and says, "Miss Katie.. did you know that my mom is seeing .... *pause, I'm flipping out at this moment,as she fumbles over her words, that this girl is going to tell me her mother is having an afair, what was I going to do!?*She continued.." I mean that my mom.... uses other babysitters?" I answered her with a simple yes and after a short pause added, "Did you know... that I babysit other children?" She was in utter shock. By this time N at caught on to the conversation and was equally apalled. I quickly changed the subject before she asked me who was my favorite or confessed to me that I was not her favorite babysitter.

Not long after the incident described above, which was officially the first akward moment we had, A asked me an equally akward question. Before, I'll give some background. Their Mother is an alumna of Baylor and of the sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma. I just don't get sororities. Lots of girls make friendships that last a lifetime in them, but they're just not for me. Knowing how I feel about sororities, you can immagine how I felt when A asked me "Miss Katie, are you in Kappa?" I proceeded to throw up a little just thinking that she would put me in such a catagory( kidding), but after I thought about it a little I decided it was a compliment, because she loves her mother, who is a Kappa. I asker her the reason for her inquiry and she simply replied, "All my babysitters are Kappas." Figures.

These kids , although they are wonderful, have made me realize how differently they are growing up than I did. A few instances have made me aware of the differences...

First, I had knowticed that N talks alot about guns, and the game of choice to play with his friends was "war", but one day something he said made me realize how much he knew. One important N fact is that he talks.. all the time. I really enjoy what he has to say. I like to listen to what he thinks. It interests me how his little cabeza is interpreting the world. One day he was talking about his toy guns. They look totally fake, which is good, and he loves them. I thought having a toy rifle and pretending to hunt or play "war" was alright until he told me what he knew about guns. He was able to tell me specific types of guns, not only rifles, but pistols too, and what each one was good for, and how they were unique from eachother. Hearing him say things like, " I use my 20 to shoot the enemy"gave me chills. I wasn't comfortable with a 6 year old knowing this much about weapons. The next time I saw him he asked if I would play war with him. I declined and explained that I dont like to play games like that and I took the opportunity to tell him that talking about guns and violence was something I wasn't comfortable with. He was very gracious and hasn't brought it up since. Two things come to my mind. 1. Where did he learn all of this specific weapon information, and 2. Why does he play games like that. I understand that all families are different, but I'm very blessed to have grown up in one that taught me that guns were for police officers, the army, and other grown ups, they are not toys, and they are not funny.

Another incident that really made me thankful for how I grew up involved food. The kid's grandfather has a business, at which their mother and father work. The grandfather has a vending machine in the office, where the products are sold to the employees at cost. An excellent idea if you ask me. A has this incredible skill for knowing when she is the princess, which is most of the time. She owns it, too. Last week, we were sitting in the office waiting for her mom to get out of a meeting when she asked if she could have something from the vending machine. I told her that I didn't have any change (total lie). She responded promptly with, "I know who has the key", and trotted off. I straggled after her to find she had interrupted an employee from her work and, since she's the bosses grandaughter, the employee got up to open the machine. Okay, nothing wrong with using what power you've got when you're 9, but what happened next totally floored me. Not only did she get a Dr Pepper and pretzles, she also got a Snickers and Starburts. I might also add that I talked her out of several other choices. What a piggy! As I watched in shock at how greedy she was being I asked her if she thought she had enough and reminded her that there would be other opportunities to intercept free treats from the employee who sucks up to the boss's grandaughter and the said vending maching. I talked her into only having the drink and one candybar, and saving the rest for later.
Later, I consulted with my mother about my 9 year old ways, and realized several things: People tell me I'm pretty selfless for an only child, whatever that means. I'm very thankful that somewhere along the way I learned that when someone is being generous, to accept a fair amount to be polite(like a can of soda) and not abuse the privelage (like taking one of everything). More than that I'm glad I rairly ever had a candybar, much less more than one. I think I can attribute that to my higher than average amount of self control when it comes to eating sweets. In the long run, I think it will keep me healthier longer.

The differences between families fascinates me. Little choices our parents made when we were kids really affect us now.

That being said.. I think I'm getting involved in the right profession.