My date with a 2 year old

I had told my friend Bridget if she ever wanted me to watch her 2 year old son Ian, I'd be happy to do it. I know she and her husband Mark don't get a chance to go out very often for grownup fun much anymore and I love kids.....so when she asked if I could watch him last night, I said "Of course!" While I'm great with kids, I have to admit I was a tad nervous. I have babysat young children before, but it had been a LONG time since I had watched a two year old. I forgot how much work it is to keep an eye on a toddler...regardless of how good or bad the child's behavior. I think I have a newfound respect for first-time parents (Ian is their first and only child thus far). I can totally understand now how parents don't have time for much else (especially the parent that is alone to take care of the child for hours on end) in the child's first few formative years.

I arrived shortly after 6:00pm and boy, were they happy to see me! Bridget told me she has not seen the friends she and Mark would be meeting for dinner since she was almost 9 months pregnant...about two years ago! No wonder she was so appreciative of me watching the little guy. They gave me a rundown of when to give him grapes for a pre-bedtime snack, what to do if he locks any of the doors (yes, he's done it before with his grandma apparently!), when to give him his cup of milk and water, changing and doubling up his diaper before bedtime, and the bedtime ritual (let him pick two trucks to take to bed and zip him up in a very user friendly toddler blanket). I got worried that I would forget something and even considered, "do I need to write all this down? What if I forget something?" I felt like I was back in school, except the subject matter seemed more foreign to me. I began to wonder how good of a mother I would be over the course of the evening. I think I got an "A+" on the average, but still...I had to wonder.

He cried a little bit when he saw his parents get in the elevator, but I picked him up and reassured him with my soft and calm voice that we were going to have fun hanging out together and that they would be back later. We played with oodles of cars: big cars, Matchbox cars, Monster trucks with the big wheels, and the medium sized cars that look nice but don't travel very far when you push them across the floor. I'd chase him around the apartment with one of those things that have the handle: when you roll it on the floor, the balls inside the plastic thing go up and down with a loud 'popping' sound. He ate his grapes and drank his milk. Everything was going swell....until I had to run to the bathroom to pee real quick. Mark had told me earlier not to worry if I had to go to the bathroom ("If he tries to come in, you can just kick him out," he joked). He didn't try to come into the bathroom, however, and his being really quiet is what worried me. When I came out of the bathroom, he was sitting still on the couch just looking at me. Seeing as he is generally a slightly hyper boy, I wondered if there was a reason he was being quieter than usual. Sure enough, I smelled something bad. We had a dirty diaper in our midst...the very thing I was most nervous about from the get-go.

I honestly can't even remember the last time I changed a diaper and/or WHOSE diaper it was for that matter. What if I forgot how? Is changing a diaper like riding a bike or driving a car....once you learn, no matter how long it is before you do it again, you can 'pick it up' again easily? Hmmm, I wasn't so sure. Ian looked at me with trusting eyes and a carefree attitude. I'm glad someone was feeling relaxed about the dirty diaper in this situation. I thought to myself, "Ok, I can do this. I have a Master's Degree in Marriage and Family Counseling, after all. It's just a diaper, Katie." At least this is how I reassured myself to wing it. I picked Ian up and began to strategize the best way to place Ian on the changing table. Ian seemed longer than the changing table, so this was a bit tricky. After deciding laying him down sideways seemed most feasible, it was time for the diaper showdown: It vs. Me. I had to win. Little did I know it would be worse than I anticipated, but I endured with grace and a sense of humor....so did Ian. With Huggies baby wipes and two Winnie the Pooh (and Tigger too!) diapers in tow, Ian smiled at me with the occasional laugh. I cleaned him up and carefully disposed the dirty diaper in the diaper receptacle to my right as I playfully teased him saying "I'm glad someone thinks this is funny..." Phew, got the cleaning out of the way. That was quickly replaced by an equally anxiety producing feeling: "What is the proper front and back side of the diaper? If I remember correctly, the tape/velcro on the side is the back part of the diaper..." I decided to use the diaper he had been wearing as guidance: Winnie the Pooh is on front, Tigger on the back (Which reinforced my theory, putting the side tabs on the back of the diaper). Success!

Being the diligent babysitter I was striving to be, I looked around for some fresh, clean pajama bottoms to replace the slightly 'spoiled' ones he was currently wearing. I searched a few nearby drawers, but came up emptyhanded. Oh well, I tried. I pick up Ian off the table and put him on the floor, whereupon we work as a team to manuever his little legs back into aforementioned pajama bottoms. I was proud of the little guy. He steadied himself pretty well, putting one leg and then another into each pant leg as he held onto my arm. Mission accomplished! It was smooth sailing after that, minus a slight glitch in zipping up his body blanket as he squirmed around. He babbled a little bit here and there before falling asleep about an hour later, but he didn't cry at all.

Aside from the diaper dilemna, I'd say my date with a 2 year old was the best date I've had in awhile. One could even say there might be a second date someday....