Friday, May 02, 2008

crazies running the asylum?

Tonight our church threw a party for all of the people that help out with the kids at church, like the Sunday school teachers and the nursery workers, etc.

And they needed childcare for all of their kids. So our small group volunteered to help. I have never even really babysat anybody, but I figure I've watched mine plus a little friend before, how hard can it be?

I was sweatin'!
Right away two of them were having a meltdown and a parent was asking me questions I didn't know the answer to.
It could have been a lot worse.
But they were not in their usual rooms
at their usual times
with their usual mary-poppins-nice-ladies in there.

They had me looking confused.

I mean, the pressure was on, these were the pro's kids. I felt like the parents were looking me over-- one of them was British!

But then the pizza came, and my friend Kathryn who teaches special ed. kindergarten came, and there was order! Look! (I camera-phone'd these)

Isn't that the cutest little conference table?


Yep, he stayed with me. I snuck him some cobbler that Kathryn ganked from the party. I felt terrible because the kids that saw me feed him, gave me the sad face, but I knew that he was just an empty spoonful away from total baby tantrum.
Those tantrums...they're contagious in a herd.

3 comments:

won tong said...

I can't quit laughin! Contagious in a herd! When I did the daycare for the kindergarten kids thru HS kids from noon to 6:00 at the private Christian school I wanted to pull my hair out at school it was teacher , teacher, then when this whipped woman went home it was, Honey honey, and Mom, mom, Calgon take me away!

Anonymous said...

OK, so this is from the person who's wife used to help run early ed at WG, and currently runs it at our new church here in CO:

"Thanks - You Rock Charlie!"

As an editorial note, the teachers are usually the least freaky-outy parents I've met because they know kids bounce most of the time :) As long as there is no blood or broken bones (or missing kids, but hey, there were teenagers involved that day... I digress) it's usually not thought about. I laud your smallgroup!

Huzzah!

Anonymous said...

PS - We have donuts at our new church, that I often give to our kids between services (blood sugar mix is critical for the double-service kids I'm learning...) And, YES, I totally sneak them to little-J and littler-M and if a kid sees me I give them the "We'll, I'm his dad" shpeal. This usually fails horribly, but I give it to them anyhow.