Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Babysitting lessons

I had another day of childcare with my buddy Sebastien yesterday. It was so crappy outdoors, we ended up staying in all day, but we found lots of things to do. There was: splashing in the sink, piggyback rides, throwing a big blue ball and laughing hysterically when Alison pretended to fall over while catching it, and playing with Mom's tape measure (not such a success- I broke it). And, last but far from least, blowing bubbles on the balcony. (see above picture) This kid is nearly two, and his parents and babysitters have not exposed him to TV yet, which I think is awesome. He's trusting, funny, active, daring, affectionate, and learning so fast! We chatter in Franglais together because his mom is bilingual- it's very good for my vocab! I am also learning tons about toddler-wrangling, because he can be stubborn. He was very pissy when he woke up from his nap because he wasn't expecting me to be there- he was so outraged that it was funny (although not to him!). It was as if we'd played the worst trick in the world on him: "I went to sleep and Mom was here and I wake up and you're here? What the hell?" So far I find that it works to give him a big hug, let him know he's loved, and then ignore the sulks and redirect his behavior with distractions. This could potentially be useful in stage management as well- hmmm!

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