Kidding Around

Fellow Traveler and I have spent most of the past 24 hours shepherding our 2-1/2-year-old great niece, who visiting the area with her Army dad and his wife as they begin the process of moving back stateside from overseas. Keep in mind that my only significant background with children is having been one, once, and that it's been about three decades since FT's days of toddler wrangling. Were we crazy to volunteer to babysit? Kind of.

We began the weekend with an impressive list of Happy Happy Fun Time educational and entertainment options for the child; but the only structured, if that is the correct term, activity we wound up actually crossing off was a visit to a local petting farm. It was fun, and I think we are now the Coolest Aunties Ever. I was also able to draw, from the reservoir of deep memory, just about every kid song of my kindergarten days, and I made some points telling bedtime stories as well. And we were kept laughing by our charge's remarks, and nascent sense of humor; one of the funnier incidents of the weekend involved the child taking ownership of the dogs' discarded squeaky cow toy in the back seat of the Jeep, then squeezing it while announcing, "Cow faaahhhting!" followed by maniacal laughter.

But we -- including the four-legged residents of our home -- were nonetheless all quite ready to drop off the kiddo with her 'rents this afternoon, and we're still recovering from our experience as I write. I have a whole new appreciation for my parents having me relatively late in their lives; it's hard for even a tag team of two middle-aged broads to keep up with a toddler.