When the phone rang at 10:30 this morning and I saw who the call was from, I contemplated passing on the pick up.  I know, I know.  You can’t imagine ME ignoring someone’s call!  Well, if you knew this person, you’d probably do the same.  A simple phone call that should last…oh…3-5 minutes at most easily turns into a half hour.  And she attempts to end the conversation approximately 12 times and gets your hopes up every time…only to dash them away with a repeat of some needless topic she had already expounded upon.  Ok.  Now that you’ve got that picture in your mind, I will tell the real story.  

In a nutshell:  I put on my “babysitter” hat today. Haven’t done that in quite some time.  Didn’t want to give this person too many reasons to “latch on” if you know what I mean, but decided that her predicament was more than worth a little sacrifice of peace & quiet on my end.  She said it would be about 2 hours of watching her little girl (who happens to be an adorable looking two year old but who just so happens to be very sick, and very very in need of obedience training–no not of the canine genre…just some parental discipline if you know what I mean…)  The first hour or so went well.  We watch a Dora DVD she brought and ate some oranges.  Most of the rest of the time was…ok…but certainly a test of my patience as I’ve rarely seen a child who refuses to listen or obey like this little one.  THEN her exhaustation started kicking in.  She was kicking and screaming at times when I was refusing to give in.  Wanting Mommy.  Crying.  Not crying.  Almost sleeping.  Getting into trouble.  Cuddling.  Crying.  Wanting Mommy.  Rinse & repeat.  A full two hours after her original scheduled pickup, mommy finally arrived.  *sigh*  Even after she called a couple times to check on things and even after I informed her of her daughter’s wailing, she was still another hour.  *sigh*  

In the end, I was thankful to serve this single mom who happens to be going through a divorce and attempting to finish her undergrad degree and I was even more thankful when the service was over.  

Just being honest.