i had to baby-sit this weekend as all my family went to see ‘the fall‘. this is the first time i’ve baby-sat on my own for evan and it was…well, it wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t very good either.
i’ve discovered that when faced with a baby and while utterly alone i don’t talk very much. babies need talking. i think sounds reassure them. but i feel stupid talking to a baby by myself. if i ever had kids (after baby-sitting i’m really not interested) and i never talked to them while they were babies would that affect their development? do babies make noise in reaction to people talking to them/making noise at them? evan kept crying and being distressed by my silent face. but i think he enjoyed the mashed carrots, the bottles and all the ‘sex in the city’ we watched.
in other news:
one of my foster kittens might have ringworm.
season 6 of 7th heaven came out this week and it is way funnier than the other seasons–so far (i am obsessed).
roller skating is much, much harder than i remember but hanging out with nachos and icees is pretty great.
Wow. You are very brave. I refuse to even be alone in a room with a pre-verbal kid, because what if they step on a nail or have an existential crisis and can’t tell me?
I think when you’re the primary caretaker of an infant, you talk to it constantly, just like when people are alone all day every day they talk to themselves constantly…I’ve heard.
I want more info on the skating.
i also had to change his diaper. only pee, only pee. if it’s yellow, let it mellow, i thought to myself. he can sit in pee till his parents come home. but no, no, i changed it. i’m not that mean.
what kind of info on the skating? you went around in a circle and there were many helpful adults who wanted to offer tips to carla (my school friend) and shari (her best friend). one of them is an actual skating teacher and gave carla a business card. it was awesome people watching. there were arcade games. there was a disco and flashy lights. there were hot dogs, nachos, churros, ice cream, pizza, and icees. i learned to go slightly fast so as to not fall over while staying straight and not sticking my butt out so i didn’t overcompensate and fall over. i did fall over once but only because a dude got his skate caught in mine. i banged my knee a little but it’s not bruised. the walls were padded so you could use them to run in to and stop and get off. staying around the edges was best, lessons and dancing happened in the middle. there was breaks for ladies only, men only, and backwards skating. the music was NOT 70’s/80’s and was mostly pretty crappy. it was hot and sweaty and exhausting going round and round but i think that was mostly because i’m out of shape. it was air-conditioned. i would still wear skirts/shorts and tank tops and not jeans. (though carla, shari, and jocelyn all wore jeans. nuala was in capris and i was in shorts). they rent wrist and knee guards along with skates. and there’s lockers to store your stuff.