It can be easier with two
Our house has been much busier the last few weeks since I’ve been tending to another little boy while his regular babysitter can’t for medical reasons.
Just like starting preschool has done wonders for taming my youngest’s caveman tendencies, having someone to share me with at home has worked wonders on his maturity level and cooperative skills.
With all my other boys, I babysat at least one other child regularly from their birth on. With the little guy, he has been home alone with me for most of his life, so he was a bit spoiled.
It has taken a few weeks for these two, and Alice, to get along for the majority of the hours they are together. They are a lot like siblings, best buds one minute and then shoving each other the next.
Gradually over the past week, they’d figured out how to give each other space when they had enough togetherness. And the times they wanted to do more than play side by side, they’ve gotten silly.
At one point on Friday, they got quiet in the kitchen, right around the other side of a cabinet where I couldn’t see them from the living room. I called out to ask what was up and in unison they said “We’re having a yogurt picnic on the floor!”
Together, they got into the fridge and silverware drawer, figured out how to open the containers and were noshing away. I thought I’d come around the corner to see a big mess, but saw the scene above instead. They were actually being very neat about it.
It was when they were done with their snack and all alone got out paper and art supplies that the mess was made. They were washable markers so I just let them get creative. Any mess they made would easily wash away, except in retrospect dark black and purple ink doesn’t wash off hands easily so they spend the rest of the day looking like newspaper pressmen.
The scene reminded me of my 2nd grader and his same-age cousin when they were this size. It was so fun to sit back and just be a spectator to their creativity — and their private conversations. While coloring these two were pretending to be father and son, driving to work in the car together.
Since we were blessed with our boys born so far apart from each other, I’m glad we have been able to invite others into our home. I don’t know who has more fun with it all — them or me.
-Julie
PS He thought it was silly to color with his blanket on his head but looked up like that while telling me to take a picture of his nose.
come to think of it, these two have figured out the whole dynamics of giving each other space when needed..good thing I have you to help me see that! Thank you for everything.