Deena, I'm still having problems believing Nick is 21 now.

So am I. He had just turned 17 when I joined the board. I can't believe it's been so long. It seems like no time at all.

The reduction of the Emergency Babysitting Forces...

Ah, Plei. I'm sorry. Nick is our only emergency babysitter, and we can't leave the kids with him long enough for them to need a change of diaper. It sucks a lot. In the last two years, we've been out to see two movies, Serenity and PoTC2, and that's it. No dinners, no dates, no time. It's really brain-deadening. I'm so sorry. I don't even have all the attendant upset that you do. I can't imagine. I hope you find someone you can trust to call up in a pinch.

It sucks a lot. In the last two years, we've been out to see two movies, Serenity and PoTC2, and that's it. No dinners, no dates, no time.

Poor Deena! I hate that you're in the boat with me.

It's a sucky boat.

{{{Plei}}}

I so understand. It's rough when they're little, and you're not sure what will happen when you leave them, and you *need* to get out and Be Adults as much you *want* same, because otherwise it begins to feel as if your brain really has leaked into a puddle consisting of apple juice, the words to several Boynton books, and the faint smells of baby poop and dried milk.

Blessings should be counted, yes indeed, but I know you know full well what yours are, and it doesn't mean you can't wish for life to be a little easier. I certainly do. Right now, Stephen and I aren't going out at all -- the situation is just too weird. If it were only Ben and Jake, no big deal, but we can't leave Sara with Grandpa and definitely not BiL, but bringing a babysitter into a house with not only a fifteen-year-old boy, but grown men, is just ... bizarre.

Not that this is about me! (Oops.) But I feel your pain. Also? Just because you know it will get better doesn't mean it makes it any easier to wait.

That is a sucky boat. I'm sorry you are both in it.

I would be an emergency babysitter for either of you, if it weren't for the stupid distance thing.

I've only ever babysat once, in college, for an 11-year-old boy who only needed a grown-up in the house between when he went to bed and his folks came home. I wasn't asked back. I've never changed a diaper. I count myself blessed.

At 11 we didn't need a babysitter. Or at least my parents didn't think we did. I used to babysit a lot from the time I was 12 until 17. I was lucky to get $1.00 an hour and my last customer paid $2.00! I thought it was a pittance and yet? Adding babysitting on the top of a night out makes it a little harder to justify the expense.

{{Plei}} and {{Amy}} it is a sucky boat. I would happily let any Bitch babysit. Heck, I would be so thankful. Lee, you're a sweetheart. I'm thankful that my mom is healthy and that I don't have to live with my FiL, and I hope that those things improve for the two of you yesterday.

Pictures of Nick: [link]

21. How did that HAPPEN???

Sigh.

We'e gonna need a bigger boat!

I don't know how it happened. I kinda want to turn the clock back. Of course, if he'd just move out the rest of the way (he's gone except a day or two every couple of weeks for laundry and to catch up on his sleep) we could fix up the basement as a family room. Obviously I'm ambivalent. My baby! More space!

Man, knowing Nick is 21 makes my feel older than the fact my daughter turns 27 in a month.

ION, I appear to have acquired a cat. His name is Elliot.

Elliot is an awesome name. What does he look like?