Adventures in Babysitting

This weekend, I found out that one of my very best friends is pregnant!!!

She's the first close friend I've had that's been pregnant and I couldn't be more excited to be a pseudo-aunt to her little budding baby!

When I found out, I was so excited I couldn't sleep! It's so unreal to think that for so long, my friends and I have made our lives our own, not worrying about anyone but ourselves...going where we want to go, when we want. Spending our money the way we please, because we don't have to think about buying diapers or formula. Going to dinner on a Saturday night isn't hard because we don't have to find a babysitter.

It made me think about some of my babysitting experiences. My sister and I had the pleasure of babysitting many children. We often shared charges, because if one of us was busy, the other was there to fill in.

For the most part, I never had any major emergencies. But one of my first babysitting experiences was a complete disaster.

There was only supposed to be one kid. Age 10ish. No problem. Kids of that age practically take care of themselves, right?

Well, when I got to the house, the kid had his friend over for the afternoon. Great, I thought, now I really don't have to do much at all but keep these kids out of trouble.

They asked me if I wanted to play cops and robbers. Sure, why not. I'll be the robber, I said.

The next thing I knew, I was being handcuffed and tied up to a clothesline in the backyard. You got me, I said.

The two weasels then looked at me and went inside the house. Leaving me handcuffed and tied to a clothesline.

You have GOT to be kidding me?

I wriggled and wrestled with the handcuffs (plastic) and strings, but these kids had me tied up good. How could I possibly let this happen? Didn't I watch movies? Tying up the babysitter never ends well.

I started screaming at the kids to come untie me or I would make sure that when mom came back, they would be grounded into next year. They would never see their beloved Super Nintendo again.

So, they taunted me from the kitchen window. Drinking Mountain Dew, a specifically forbidden beverage.

I wanted to sit down and cry and admit defeat. I was a total babysitting failure.

But just as I thought all was lost, the kids came out, sticky from Mountain Dew and Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies, and untied me. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was the threat of getting grounded, the possibility of not seeing Donkey Kong for a month, or the extremely sad look in my eyes.

Either way, I never babysat for the family ever again.