Well, okay, so he's not a babysitter, but our 11-year-old neighbor boy. Every once in a while he sees us pulling into the driveway at the end of the day, and jumps on his bike and comes down. I LOVE these nights because then I don't have to bribe Tyler to come inside while I change my clothes, but can ask Chase to watch him for a couple of minutes while Connor and I run inside.
Yeah, okay, I wouldn't leave him with Tyler for hours, but he's PERFECT for when you need to just run inside and do dishes, or give Connor a bath, and to chase Tyler down when he takes off towards the golf course or something.
And here's the BEST part.......he wants to be paid in CANDY! Seriously! A bag of Skittles or Starburst are like GOLD to this kid! He LOVES it! Last night, I found a box of "Junior Caramels" that I bought a few weeks ago, and put a bunch in my pocket. "Chase, can you watch Tyler for a few minutes while I give Connor a bath?" (slide him a handful of chocolate caramels...). "Chase, can you get Tyler to get off his big wheel and stay in the backyard?", (a few more caramels in the hand...).
It is awesome. And even better, here's a snippet of the conversations I heard last night:
Chase: "Tyler! Stop doing that! Your mom paid good money for that!"
Chase: "Tyler, you can have the stick back when you stop banging it against the tree!"
After having 2 children, I learned quickly that I needed to use every resource at my disposal when offered. Tyler is at the age when he would literally LIVE outside, and you can do all the negotiating you want, but he DOES NOT want to come inside at times, even for ice cream. Having this "back up plan" works wonders!!!
1 comment:
Eleven-year-old neighbor kids are the BEST babysitters! I have a few that I like to ditch my kids on every once in a while.
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