I Wanna…Blog Some

I can’t say no.  I think it will be good for the kids.  I want to be helpful.  I know others would do the same for me (and they have). 

Those are some of the reasons that might ramble around my mind if I wonder how I ended up with extra kids a few days a week during the month of June.  But do you think the parents of the kids that I’m watching know just how much I don’t pay attention to the kids I am responsible for?  I try to do my best to just stay out of their way and hope for the best.  My philosophy is kind of "I won’t bother you and you don’t bother me." 

Should I have told this to the parents of these extra kids so they could make an informed choice? 

I really want my kids to have fun and I don’t think that means having me plan every minute of their day for them.  I want them to invent their own games.  I want them to make up their own rules.  I want them to solve problems they might get themselves into.  I was about 11 when I had to figure out that I should probably eat something to get the cigarette smoke off my breath before going home to tell my mom that I had a broken arm.  I just want my kids to have some of those kind of problem solving skills. 

Would I be happy to know that my kids’ friend’s parents are just as relaxed (or lazy depending on your perspective) when my precious babies are visiting others?  I hope so.  I know the only feeling I remember having is one of complete failure when my kids come home from other people’s houses with a batch of homemade cookies that the mom helped them make.  But that’s ridiculous because I have helped some kids bake cookies.  And one time I let The Boy and another boy in his class create something called Dangerous Pie in my kitchen with very little guidance.  The boys destroyed my kitchen that day.  I guess what I hope is that some of my kid’s friend’s parents are willing to let my kids help destroy their kitchen a little.  And that I remember that what those other parents don’t know what hurt them and what I don’t know won’t hurt me.  Right?