Family Time

"Close your eyes and walk around like that. Do you see anything? That is how Jessica sees." Says my aunt to her three year old grandson. She was trying to explain to him that he had to answer me when I babysat him this morning because I couldn't see him. It's a tough concept for adults to grasp, never mind a three year old. The difference between adults and three year olds is that children are creative and open minded and don't really care when things have to be done slightly differently. So, my babysitting expedition went quite well, even though he still did not get the concept of "blind" as we would view it. (There is a picture of him up on my website hanging from my parents' clothes line...don't ask. Damn I say that a lot).
When he first arrived we headed into the computer room to dig out my childhood crayons. He wanted to colour. So, I grabbed the plastic tub, some paper and we went out on to the deck in the backyard. I figured it was safer out there. It wasn't as bad if he scribbled red and blue dots all over the deck as opposed to the kitchen table that my grandpa made my mom. We coloured for a while and then he took to chasing Flash around the back lawn screaming "give me that stick." Flash was not too keen on sharing though. Must be the lab in her. :) After that little game was over, we headed inside for some juice. It was only 11 A.M., but the sun was already hot. I found an old plastic Koolade cup that I had used when I was a kid. It's one of those cups with the little handle and the smiley face on the front. I decided that a 3 year old should not be given glass. I can clean up spilled juice no problem, but glass...that is not impossible, but much harder. Besides, if he were to drop it, I did not want our two dogs and two cats wandering through the shards while I tried to clean it up. After we were both hydrated, we dumped out his toy bag and started playing with his cars. He was convinced that he should ride Jetta and Flash, but I had to explain to him that they were big puppies, but dogs were not meant for riding-horses were. He had a plastic tiger, which I made eat a car...but I think he just thought I was weird. He had three or four little cars that you pull back on the floor and they wind up. You let them go and they go hurtling crazily across the room. We played with those for a good hour. I'd shoot them and he'd go get them. He also enjoyed driving them into my foot or letting them crash into the kitchen cupboards, where they would flip over. He thought this was the best thing in the world. His grandma, my aunt, came to get him and we opened the door together to let her in. I then changed, since I was wearing a sweat-shirt and jeans, into something lighter and we-Aunt, uncle, baby, me and Jetta-headed over to our local park.
It's huge! There are three or four different play areas, with swings, slides, teeter-totters, mary-go-rounds and climbers. There are also picnic areas. It's a really nice park. I used to play there as a kid. There are also ponds with ducks, paved paths and giant fields for playing in. They have just declared this park a no "off leash" area for dogs. I can see why because there are so many people playing and eating there, but there is not one dog park in my home town. It doesn't make sense. You can't just ban something and then expect people to observe the law when they are not given an alternative.
After the park, we stopped at his "other" grandpa's flower shop and he got a pink balloon filled with helium. He was convinced it was green though-since everything seems to be green to him. Even Jetta was green. :) They drove me home and the little munchkin fell asleep in the car.
I am now getting ready to go out to my grandma's house tonight. She lives about 45 minutes out of the city and we're taking the dogs there for the weekend so they can run. (Hopefully, this deters Jetta from taking off again). My grandparents' have 25 acres of land, so it is safe for Jetta to be free. My aunt, her husband (the same people from today), my cousin and baby are supposed to be coming out tomorrow as well. It's my grandpa's birthday so the family should probably get together. (That is not everyone Our family is much larger, but those are the people who are in town as of right now).
Everyone have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday with more stories to tell.