When BabySitting Becomes Literal

I babysat last night. I like babysitting, i like kids. But last night, i didn't like babysitting. I was sitting for a new family; twin 3yr old girls and an 8month old baby girl. They seemed sweet - they were blonde, so they had the whole innocent-angel thing going. The parents thought they'd be fine (saying that the girls would only cry 'for awhile' as they left...).

It all started out well. The baby was in bed and i fed the girls. The baby woke up - i put her back to sleep. I bathed the girls, it was very cute. The girls and i watched Elmo - the Movie (mindless drivel). The baby woke up - i changed her nappy with difficulty (i've never changed a nappy before and she would NOT stop wriggling) and put her back to bed. The girls and i watched Elmo - the Movie again. Fun. The baby woke up - i put her back to bed. Then i tried to get the girls to sleep, which involved an unsuccessful struggle to talk them out of flanelette pjs, a book about an inventing dinosaur and tucked them in. The naughty twin complained about going to bed, but was out like a light within seconds. The nice twin cried in her sleep, but was fine when i tucked her in. Then the baby woke up.

The baby cried for the next hour. I tried;

-giving her her bottle

-giving her her teddy

-cuddling her

-walking with her

-bouncing her

-talking to her

-letting her cry

-changing her nappy

Nothing worked. I called mum - she had no ideas. The poor child was hysterical. She was freaking out because she had been left with a stranger, which was fair enough! Eventually, after singing every song that i knew, jiggling my keys for an hour and nearly falling asleep on the couch, she calmed down. I crept her upstair, layed her down again... and she started crying again! But i left her and she stopped! It was very exciting.

Add that to the fact that the parents were home late and that the dvd player wouldn't play, the only thing that made up for it was the $70 that i scored. I had to swallow my guilt over upping my rates, but boy, did i earn it. A very stressful night - and i didn't even get a chance to do any homework!