My Baby Sitting Lessons

So this past week I have been tending my cousins while their parents are one a cruise. Its kind of been interesting and way low key. (Seeing as I am used to tending 7 kids with crazy lives.) So only having three with simple schedules is a breaze.

It seems that every time I tend I learn lessons, or relearn, somet times these lesson are ones about life, the gosple and/or just about child care giving. For example how to handle kids on a rampage, strepp, cracked heads, how to pray, how simple the gosple is and just how to live and love life. These are just a sampling of what I learned of the years. Im telling you when you feel in as a parent when the real ones go out of town you get way more experience then normal babysitting.

The lesson that I learned this time that came directly from babysitting hit me the most. I was helping my cousing work through missing her parents, she was a total mess. We talked for nearly an hour. What touched me was I was trying to help her see how blessed she was to be able to talk to her parent twice a day and email them even though they are on a cruise. I told her that when I tend the Bairds and there parents go on cruises it can be days between calls. The point is I told her to count her blessings, look at what she does have that is going great. I went on to tell that even though things look and seem like they are completly falling apart at this moment put on a smile and a brave face, be like Christ and bare things with patience, look at what you do have not what you dont and most importantly pray- when ever it gets hard. As I told her this it hit me so hard. Here I was teaching a 12 year old how to work through missing her parents when I should have been looking in the mirror and talking to my self. What I was saying to her applies to all of us and all times. It may be as small as a bad day because you burnt dinner to waiting for your hearts desires to be meet. It may be ending a close reltaionship to waiting for a child. It may be dealing with a life long illness to a sudden loss of a loved one. From trival to big we all go through hard moments that get us down. But we have the greatest example at hand, Christ. I thought I need to, we all need to, remind ourselves of this time and time again.

Now to lessons I have learned as bi-products of tending. Ok I have a lot of spare time.

I love the show "What I Like About You." It is way way funny plus its based a lot on real life, or atleast it relates better then most shows can. My cousins and I have had a great time watching it every night after chores and homework are done. I love the show because as the charachters come to make relizations about life, mostly relationships I think to my self wow thats me!

I have also had a ton of time to read. After the go to bed the girls want me up stairs so they can sleep and there is not really a TV up there but in the room and I dont want to keep the girls up so I read. This book is by far one of my favorites. Its not so much a gripping story that fantasy and other books can be. Its more gripping in its real life. I love reading the story of Macy and the self relizations she is having. As the story goes on it keeps getting me to think about my self and my life.

Hmmmmm. Babysitting is a grand adventure, this time an adventure of self.