Uncle Kavin and Dylan

Uncle Kavin and Aunty Corrinne with Dylan and Ryan

Kavin's parents with their grandsons

Babysitting -


Kavin and I have spent the past week up in Northern California,
helping his sister to babysit her two-year-old
son Dylan and her almost 3 month old infant, Ryan, in the interim period as she looks for a nanny.

I've discovered that taking care of a kid requires patience,
a good amount of humour, and a willingness to view the world
through the kids eyes.

Everything becomes a kind of game, even the feeding
becomes a challenging creative exercise
"see! here comes a tiny tree! (read : broccoli floret)
See if you can eat the flying saucer! Eat this last
mouthful and you can have a tangerine!"

Kids have an innate fascination with the world.
Talk about repetition! The same game will yield
hours of fun way after the adults get tired of playing
the same game over and over again :)

And for such a tiny person, you cannot imagine
that their poop would stink so bad!

Ryan has begun to be responsive
to our conversations with him and loves to laugh
at the way I say 'Broccoli!' at him. Fascinating.

In this season of Christmas, it makes me reflect
about how much humility and trust the Lord Jesus
must have had in accepting the Father's will
to being born helpless, totally dependent,
as a human baby.