So today it's going well. (I have still have the boys this afternoon though, and then sitting for sarah)
I sat for this little boy, chris, who is just barely, possibly two. Definitly no more than 24 months. But anyway. It was the first time he had been left alone with a babysitter (oh joy of joys for me) and he was so angry. He screamed and screamed. And by screamed, I don't mean the kind of loud crying that most two year olds treat me to. I mean ear-piercing screams. I walked him around the neighborhood (screaming) and then I walked him around the house (screaming). I tried to interest him in his toys (screaming) and his books (screaming). Then I sat down, with him in front of me, and burst into fake!tears. He looked at me, said, "It's okay", then screamed again. I sighed, and picked him up and settled him (still screaming) in my lap. He laid his head down on my shoulder, and put his arms around me, and stopped screaming, and started to cry. I rubbed his back and held him. Gradually, his cries quieted, until there were just occasional choking sobs. And then I looked down and he was asleep.
It had been a while since there was someone asleep in my arms. All of my kids last summer were too old for that, and this summer, they are all too stubborn, and kick if I try to hold them. But Chris fell asleep. And when he woke up, we took a walk, and watched some guy cut somebody's lawn, and said hello and goodbye to all the trucks we saw, and played with chalk. And life was good.
