Learning how to babysit

This weekend was quite fun but also tiring!

I had agreed to help my boyfriend to babysit his 4-year-old sister, and he said he would bring her to my house so we could play with her in the garden and have a nice time. The typical "family day" of my school was also on that Saturday, and I really wanted to go to see my old teachers and some classmates; so I thought it would be a good idea to bring Sofía to the school, buy her something to eat, play some games and then go home. The school is quite big, with lots of trees and a little forest, and I think she really enjoyed it :) Although I couldn't see any of the teachers I wanted to meet, it was so strange to see Sofia in the same places where I spent all my school years!! And my boyfriend as well!! We laughed a lot when Sofia got her face painted like a little cat; when they had finished, the girls that were painting her told her "Now you can go back to your parents" xD And I replied "Oh, no, she's my boyfriend's little sister" and the girls blushed and didn't know what else to say!!! :D

Well, we went home quite soon because Sofia was pretty tired (she had spent almost an hour in the bus). What she wanted to do the most was to meet my pets Diva and Benji, and she was sooo happy playing with them, although she did get quite scared when she realised how big my dog is, hehehe!! Of course, after playing the whole evening with the cat and then playing tennis with us and always jumping and running, she looked at me and said "I want my papa" (as you're all Chileans, I won't explain what that is... but if you're not chilean, the papa is the milk little kids take at around 6 or 7 pm). What could I do? A little nervous, I went to the kitchen and put some milk in the microwave; I knew it has to be not too hot not too cold, but would Sofia like a papa prepared by me? Of course she wouldn't; she didn't like the flavour of the milk. I was about to get mad at her, when my boyfriend told her "But hey, this is the same milk we gave you when you were younger", and she was so surprised by this that she tasted it again and said "Ok, so Isa, could you sit by me while I drink it?"... How could I say no??? She was so sweet... so the three of us were on the bed, watching the Disney Channel (did we have any choice?), with the soft light of dusk coming in through the window... we were really the perfect family :-P

After that, we had to go back to my boyfriend's house. It is a 45-50 minutes journey by bus, and I thought I could sit with her on my lap so she could sleep, but the bus was really crowded and nobody offered us a seat ¬_¬ I think I can imagine what eternity means to a 4-year-old kid. Anyway, we got home but she was so excited because of everything new she had learned that she forgot she was sleepy and started to play again... Gosh, I'd like to use the batteries of a kid in my cd player!! xD

The following day, when we woke up, she was already full of energy for another day of games and learning. I wasn't feeling really well due to this annoying allergy, but after breakfast I felt a little better. We took Sofia to the supermarket; some time ago, this was a pleasant activity because she didn't ask for sweets or sodas, but now that she's going to the kindergarten, she's learned this bad habits and she was asking for a soda even before getting there! Well, I think that's a common thing among kids, asking for stuff even though they're not really hungry or thirsty, right? But they have to learn that it's not always possible, so we told Sofia that we didn't have much money and she agreed on drinking some water instead of a Coke :)

When we got home, she told us she had to do her homework. (Yes, they give homeworks in kindergarten... don't kids have a life these days?) And while I was watching her painting the numbers from 1 to 5 and the bugs below them, I felt a strange feeling, a mixture of pride and joy and... I don't know. I felt good. It is nice to help her grow up; it feels amazing when I teach her something new and then she remembers it. I always get speechless when she says "Isa, te quiero mucho"... :_)

Yes, kids are tiring and most of the times I get out of ideas and I can't imagine myself doing that day after day... but why not? Maybe, in a couple of years, Sofia will be helping us babysit her little cousin... :-P