Cliff Sitting

I have never done much babysitting and there is a good reason why. It’s usually a full time job just keeping myself under control.

But, Marilyn called and asked if I would baby sit Cliff this past weekend. She sounded desperate; I think I was her last hope. I like Marilyn, so I agreed to watch Cliff but made it perfectly clear – I don’t do diapers.

Marilyn dropped Cliff off on Friday with a long list of “Instructions for Caring for Cliff”. A few of the key ones were:

-- Needs to be fed at least 3 times a day with snacks in between.
-- Now that he is in the city, you may need to retrain him in the potty department.
-- Do NOT take him shopping. Mall concrete drains the energy out of his legs and you will have to carry him.
-- Tuck him into bed around midnight with a story. If he gives you any trouble just tell him you have a headache.

Did I happen to mention I never done much babysitting? To make matters worse, Char was not feeling well so the bulk of Cliff sitting fell back on me.

I did the best I could. I fed him. Granted it was not as good as some of the meals you can get on the farm – but he didn’t starve. And he would just have to suffer with a tummy ache because I was not going to burp him.

After his tummy was feeling better, I decided to take him to the ‘park’. The ‘park’ in this case was a couple of golf courses where he had a good times playing with the other kids. Yes, Cliff beat me at golf but there was a reason. I was the “adult in charge” and figured he would just cry and fuss if he didn’t win so I deliberately threw the game. (Okay, that’s a lie.)

We told a few a stories and had a lot of laughs. We even did a little planning for Blogstock (thanks to Char and Marilyn).

Cliff sitting is not that bad – I’d consider doing it again.