An Unpleasant Evening

One day last week Alex was so bad that I didn’t know what to do with him. He had a massive tantrum for about fifteen minutes and was acting barbaric. This only happens about once every 2 weeks. I don’t know what it is that triggers this behavior, but whatever it is it drives him to insanity. He was being so bad and I couldn’t wait to leave when his mother arrived. I asked him what was wrong a few times and he replied simply answering, “nothing.” I hate to be a discipliner but I had to take certain steps to calm him down. In my past training I have been told a few simple tactics to calm a child down when he/she is having a tantrum. First, you are supposed to ignore the child’s bad behavior in hopes that he/she will stop. If the child stops, talk to him in a calm manner and discuss his issue, but if the child continues other steps are required. Unfortunately, for me I wasn’t so lucky. Alex starting throwing things, kicking, screaming, punching, and almost broke the DVD player after hitting it with a shoe. He started banging his head and continued his tantrum.

As a babysitter, there are only a select few tactics that I am allowed to use. I decided to hold Alex on my lap and hold him until he stopped. While I was holding him I said be a good boy and calm down. The only way I will let you go is as if you calm down and be good. After putting up an epic battle for about five to ten minutes Alex finally ended. After his tantrum I discussed his behavior with him. He never told me what was wrong with him. I guess he was just in a bad mood. I discussed his tantrum with his mother. She approved of the methods I used to control him and was just as confused as to why he was acting the way he was.

First Timer

For the first time last week Diana and her friend went to the movies by themselves. He mother called me at 3:20 to tell me that the movie her daughter planned to see a movie that began at 3:30. I rushed around trying to get Alex ready to leave and try to calm the mother down and ensure her that her daughter would be safe at the movie theatres.

After getting Diana and Alex settled in the car, we rushed off to pick up her friend that lived a few minutes away. Diana’s friend Julie’s older brother came outside as I pulled up to plan out how the girls would get home. I told him that I would pick them up.

With only a few minutes left to spare, the girls ran inside and paid for their tickets and waved to me as they ran into the theatre. To ensure the girl’s safety, I had Diana text me at various points of the movie to make sure that they were ok.

The girls enjoyed the movie and had a great time knowing that they were capable of viewing a movie without adult supervision.

Kids Say the Darnest Things

So the other week I worked out really hard at the gym for the first time in awhile. I decided that I wanted to get more toned and had my friend Rob who is a personal trainer train me. We worked rigorously on my abs because I want a more toned stomach. It turns out I worked out really hard and suffered the next few days in pain.

I went to baby-sit the next day and could barely move. They best way to describe my body stature was comparing me to a hunch back. My stomach muscles were burning making it very hard for me to walk and stand up straight. Alex wondered why I was standing strangely and wanted me to show him how I stood numerous times. He asked me what was wrong and sympathized for my pain.

He asked me if I got bit and to stratify his urge to know the answer I replied yes. He continued by asking me if I got bit by a bug or a dog. I replied yes in order to stop his wondering. Finally Alex sparks up with an answer and his face lightens up. He say, “ I know! You got a baby in there!” My face blushed and I was said, “ NO, NO, that’s not it,” thinking that I could convince him that he was false. I thought I convinced him but I was wrong.

The next day while I was doing my observances at his mother’s school, she walks into the room that I was observing in hysterically laughing. She tried to catch he breath while she was talking and said that Alex told her that I wasn’t feeling good. She asked him what was wrong and if I was ok and he responded that I had a baby in my tummy. I wanted to crawl up in a ball and turn invisible. It was very funny and obviously a false story, but I was surprised to hear that he repeated his story to his mother.

A walk with Cody

I introduced Alex to my black Labrador Cody the other week. He was so happy to meet her and his smile was priceless. He was so anxious to meet her and he couldn’t wait to get to my house. We prepared for our walk around the corner by putting a leash on Cody. We then walked around my neighborhood for a short while.

As the dog walked I tried to apply what I had learned in my Language Acquisition class. In the class we were taught to question the child in order for him to learn about surroundings. I asked him to answer how many legs my dog has, what color she is, and what color her leash and collar were. He answered my question and actually was excited to answer them.

We later went to the pet store while Diana was at dancing school. We walked through the pet store and looked at all the animals and items. Alex enjoyed watching the fish swim and the tiny animals crawl around their cages. Alex picked out a new collar for my dog. He was very happy to get out of the house and view the animals.

A week without them...

It’s been a week since I’ve seen Alex and Diana. I miss them a lot. I never thought that I would have such an attachment towards them, but I do. This week all public schools have off. The time two o’clock has held a significant meaning for me. That’s the time I start babysitting and now it’s an empty slot filled with other plans.

Diana keeps in touch with me by texting me about day. She went to Massachusetts with her friends this week. She’s been telling me about all her activities. I didn’t realize how much I’d miss them. I can’t wait for next week to begin!

Text till No End

Ever since I gave Diana my phone number I have been receiving text messages none stop. It’s nice to keep in touch with her throughout the course of the day, but I must say, “THANK YOU T-MOBILE FOR UNLIMITED TEXTS!!” She sends so many texts throughout the day that if I didn’t have the plan I have I would be paying through the roof with the amount of texts I would be paying for. She idolizes me and likes to hear about my interesting life style. She is fascinated that I am able to go out on school nights and that I have a demanding social life.

Every time she texts me I am usually out and she admires the fact that I have so many friends. It’s different to have someone younger admire and be interested in my life. She’s like the little sister I never had and she’s analyzing my life as “that cool older girl,” that she looks up to. She once told me that she wishes that she can be just like me. Her words made me blush and I am happy that I am now somebody’s idol. I’ve never been so happy to be in the position I am in now.

Wii

Diana received a Wii game system for Christmas, but wasn’t able to start playing it until about a week ago because Alex shoved a wrong disk into the slot and broke it. It was repaired and shipped immediately to her house. Diana set up the system and we began to play. I had play Wii once before, but I wasn’t familiar with the many game options.

To start off we played a matching and continued to play each selection. We played Duck Hunt, Air Hockey, and Racing. We had so much fun competing with each other. We even got to customize our characters to resemble ourselves!

“Cooking Mamma,” is the game that we have been playing most recently. The chef selects recipes from a cookbook and we have to prepare the meals. It’s nice to be able to virtually make and learn about other cultures and their meals. Yesterday we entered the challenge so hopefully we will excel to the next round!