Deep Breaths

Earlier today my sister-in-law (the other Diane Snow) called and invited Lincoln and me to join her and her husband to listen to a band down at the Rose Garden. The Rose Garden is a bar here in town that is about 2 miles from our house.

Here's the thing. We didn't have a babysitter. So Diane (94)* volunteered her daughter Kayla to watch the kids.

Kayla is 11.

Yes, I started babysitting at 9. But Kayla is 11. And they're my kids. It's a whole different ball of wax, if you know what I mean.

I wanted to be okay with it. Kayla and her brother Kyle (age 17) are the most polite and most well-mannered kids that I've ever met but Kayla is still 11. E-L-E-V-E-N. It seemed old when I was 11 but now it seems like a baby.

And Jake agreed with me.

Jake LOVES Kayla. He calls her Kiki and she's one if his absolute favorite people in the entire world and yet when we told them she'd be babysitting he freaked out. He started crying and curled up in my lap and said "but won't there be an adult here!?!"

He freaked out so much I asked Lincoln if maybe there was something we didn't know that Jake was having some sort of sixth sense about. We decided to brave it and wrote down the number of the Rose Garden along with the number for Daddy's cell phone and 911.

Yes, I felt the need to clarify the number for 911.

At dinner we went over the rules with the kids and what was acceptable and what wasn't. I told them they should stop and think, "Would Mommy or Daddy say no to this?" before they did anything. It was all worked out and yet as we drove down the driveway I panicked that I didn't know if Kayla knew the Heimlich or not.

I'm usually a fairly laid back parent. When Hannah was less than 6 weeks old I used to leave her with a 12-year old while I went to the grocery store but I was a wee bit freaked out tonight. Kayla is really good with the kids but sometimes they get a little crazy. And Kayla was playing with Jake the night he split his head open jumping down the stairs a few years ago. It certainly wasn't her fault - and I was home at the time - but my nightmare is that he does it again while we're gone and no one is here to drive him the hospital.

Justin and Diane came down to drop Kayla off at 8:15 and I ended up quoting Spiderman. Lincoln would have been so proud of me. I said "With great power comes great responsibility." On top of that I said "Being in charge doesn't mean being bossy. It means being responsible."

Me, the most laid back parent in the universe was having a minor panic attack.

Even Diane (94) was making fun of me.

Me: We even went over fire plans with them. If there is a fire they're all supposed to meet at the apple tree.

Diane (94): Good God. Did you tell them what to do if someone breaks into the house too?

Me: Yes. They're supposed to hide in Hannah's walk-in closet.

Lincoln: And take the phone with them!

Originally I had given a timeline to Lincoln of one and a half hours....that was as long as we were to be gone. We had left the phone number for the Rose Garden (cell phones don't really work in downtown Upton) and had also taught Hannah how to text Daddy from Mommy's phone which we had left at home (texts come through but not phone calls) but I was still a wee bit nervous. Lincoln told me to do a shot when we got to the bar to loosen up but I didn't. I did, however, last an extra hour and we were home after 2 1/2 hours.

We came home and walked in the door to find Jake fast asleep - in his room no less! - and Hannah declaring Kayla to be "the best babysitter ever!"

It's amazing to me to think back to my childhood and how I started babysitting so young but now I'm a wreck when someone who is only 11 babysits my kids. Perspective on these things seriously change as you become older. It truly is amazing to view your own childhood through the lens of a parent. I always marvel at what freedom my parents gave me and how important it is to let my own kids have the same freedom.....it's just that much harder when they're your own.

*Diane (94) is my sister-in-law of the same name that lives on the same street. Her house number is 94 while ours is 106 so therefore she is referred to as Diane (94).