Melonade

You will all be able to sleep soundly with the knowledge that the terrible twos weren't so terrible yesterday. It was adventures in babysitting part two, and I am happy to report a huge improvement on part one. I was assigned to the toddler nursery and helped wrangle 15 two- and three-year olds for an hour and a half. I'm not sure if kids are just happier on Tuesdays, but things were quite pleasant in the nursery.

Best moments of the evening:
1. Reading stories. The kids pull books off the shelf and bring them to you with a pleading look. Who could say no (or want to)? And so, while resting comfortably on the honeybee-shaped bean bag (the honeybean bag, if you will), I had no fewer than six children perched on me or near me while we read about the zany adventures of Bob and Larry. (Side note: children are very helpful page-turners.)

2. Movie time! At the end of the evening we took them to the video room where they could get another dose of Veggie Tales. (I don't know how we ever made it without those veggies.) One little girl who had been clinging to me for most of the night climbed in my lap, snuggled up, and fell asleep. She may not have enjoyed the video much, but I was very amused.

At the end of the evening, some of the volunteers still pledged never to have children of their own, so I'm thankful for my trauma-less evening. If yesterday's story has you signing up for permanent childlessness, remember that they can be good as long as you have a sufficient amount of cartoon vegetables.