Adventures in babysitting

Did anyone spot the film crew at my house this past weekend? I didn't see them either but I often had the feeling I was in the middle of some situation comedy starring two little grandchildren. We had some misadventures, mostly on Saturday.

My husband and I took care of these two little ones while my daughter and her husband celebrated his 30th birthday. They brought the children on Friday while I was also watching my other granddaughter. The three cousins had a ball playing together. I had them by myself longer than expected as my son and my husband both were detained at work. Little Hannah did not want to go home when her dad arrived.

I'm not sure what time my husband got home other than it was Bath Time as soon as he had something to eat. I had a great break. Then we read stories, relaxed and the little ones went to sleep.

So did we.

The next morning my husband and son worked on some equipment in the barn. The kids and I made breakfast. I made the waffles a head of time so they went from the freezer to the warming oven while we fried the bacon and made the syrup. That was my mistake.

Never try to make syrup with an almost 4 year old and an almost 2 year old. The older child isn't the problem; it's the little one with less fine motor skills who spilled the half cup of white sugar all over everything. Also the grama that lets him try it.

After we had sugar coating everything in sight, I told the kids to stay put while I got the vacuum. The little one ran away. He came back while I was pulling up all the sugar I could and let me vacuum him too.

Then we (I) washed the immediate areas. Again, I told both kids to stay where they were. Again, the little one ran away. Only this time he ran right over the just washed area. His feet went flying and he landed on his back. He stared at the ceiling for a bit before starting to cry. I was glad to hear him make some noise.

While all this was going on the bacon was burning. Not terribly but it was a bit charred on the edges. We put that into the oven too.

My husband came into the house just in time for waffles and bacon. He noted the kitchen floor was looking "a little rough" and said he would wash it after the combine was back together. He returned to the barn.

I turned my attention to getting the kids and I dressed for the day. That was fun. I keep clothing at my house for them. My oldest granddaughter brought just her Sunday dress and shoes for the weekend stay. My grandson brought more clothes but when he saw his sister finding her clothing in baskets, he wanted to look also. Although I had fewer clothes for him, he had not trouble finding something that fit him.

Then it was time to take care of the chickens. Last Saturday was very windy. We had strong winds out of the northeast with rain blowing all over. That did not deter my grandchildren. They love going to the chicken coop. Each has a bucket to hold corn. They feed the hens while I change the water, add feed and gather the eggs.

They stood out in that wind and rain throwing dried corn at the chickens for a long time. If they were cold, they didn't complain. They gave the hens corn until the buckets were empty.

Then it was time for lunch. I still had all the mess from breakfast but grandpa was finished working on the combine.

We went to McDonald's.