Read Online Blue Eyes and Other Teenage Hazards by Janette Rallison - Free Book Online
Authors: Janette Rallison
Ads: Link
sounds fun,” Mrs. Taylor said. “Don’t you think that sounds fun, Sam?”
“Yeah,” Samantha said in voice that didn’t show any enthusiasm.
Mrs. Taylor surveyed the room. “Well, I think you have everything you need. We shouldn’t be gone more than a few hours. Call if you have any problems.” She then glided up the stairs and disappeared.
Elise and I set up folding chairs around the tables. By the time we were finished, five more kids came. Most were in the four-to six-year-old range, although there was one boy who couldn’t have been more than two. He wouldn’t let go of his sister’s hand, and followed her wherever she went.
Samantha briskly divided the kids into two groups and sent the younger ones over to Elise and me. She and Chelsea didn’t really talk to us after that.
The crafts went bad quickly. The children managed to get frosting everywhere. They didn’t like the licorice pieces we’d set out to use as mouths, and they made vampire teeth out of the candy corns. I took the bowl away when a freckle-faced boy tried to shove some up his nose.
None of the kids wanted to make ghosts, although the same boy entertained the other kids by shoving a succession of marshmal ows into his mouth until I took that bag away too. I was afraid he’d either spit out a huge marshmal ow blob or choke on them.
All of that took about a half an hour. Then the kids were bored.
“Story time!” Elise told them and made them sit down in a semicircle at the far end of the room. She rifled through the diaper bags until she came up with a few picture books. She handed me the first one.
I put on my cheeriest face. “Do you want to hear the story of Danny and the Dinosaur?”
“No,” the marshmal ow kid said. “I already know how it ends. He learns how to play baseball.” I ignored the kid and peered down at the other faces. “How many of you like dinosaurs?” The marshmal ow boy wiggled his feet so they hit the boy sitting next to him. “Dinosaurs can’t really play baseball. They’d eat people.” I was beginning to remember all of the reasons I hated babysitting.
Elise stepped in front of the kids. “Do you know the reason you’ve never seen me before?” Half the kids looked at her blankly. The other half shook their heads, clearly not grasping the nature of rhetorical questions.
“I’m Santa’s helper from the North Pole,” she said. “I’m here to check and see whether you’re being naughty or nice.” Five pairs of eyes grew wide. Marshmal ow boy’s eyes grew narrow. “Santa doesn’t send people to check up on you.” Elise nodded in agreement. “Usually he doesn’t, but you’re a borderline case. Santa can’t decide whether to give you presents or coal. He told me you didn’t share the toys he gave you last year and you also sass your mother.” The boy gulped and sat very still. He didn’t say a word for the rest of story time. The other kids, however, wouldn’t stay quiet. All through my reading of Danny and the Dinosaur, they kept interrupting me to ask Elise questions about the North Pole.
“Where does Santa keep the reindeer?” one girl asked.
“We used to keep them outside, but they kept flying away and getting lost, so now they’re inside.”
“Inside the house?”
“Sure. It’s a big house. They’re like pets, only they leave hoof prints on the ceiling sometimes. It bothers Mrs. Claus when they do that.” When it was Elise’s turn to read, she picked a book of classic fairy tales but changed the stories. She was in the middle of telling how Cinderel a told off her wicked stepsisters, took one of their dresses, and went to the ball on her own, when a girl raised her hand. “My little brother did a doo-doo.”
Elise regarded her patiently. “Santa’s special helpers don’t change diapers. But do you see that girl over there?” Elise pointed to Samantha at the craft table. “She’s common, ordinary rabble, and she’d be happy to take care of any doo-doo
“Yeah,” Samantha said in voice that didn’t show any enthusiasm.
Mrs. Taylor surveyed the room. “Well, I think you have everything you need. We shouldn’t be gone more than a few hours. Call if you have any problems.” She then glided up the stairs and disappeared.
Elise and I set up folding chairs around the tables. By the time we were finished, five more kids came. Most were in the four-to six-year-old range, although there was one boy who couldn’t have been more than two. He wouldn’t let go of his sister’s hand, and followed her wherever she went.
Samantha briskly divided the kids into two groups and sent the younger ones over to Elise and me. She and Chelsea didn’t really talk to us after that.
The crafts went bad quickly. The children managed to get frosting everywhere. They didn’t like the licorice pieces we’d set out to use as mouths, and they made vampire teeth out of the candy corns. I took the bowl away when a freckle-faced boy tried to shove some up his nose.
None of the kids wanted to make ghosts, although the same boy entertained the other kids by shoving a succession of marshmal ows into his mouth until I took that bag away too. I was afraid he’d either spit out a huge marshmal ow blob or choke on them.
All of that took about a half an hour. Then the kids were bored.
“Story time!” Elise told them and made them sit down in a semicircle at the far end of the room. She rifled through the diaper bags until she came up with a few picture books. She handed me the first one.
I put on my cheeriest face. “Do you want to hear the story of Danny and the Dinosaur?”
“No,” the marshmal ow kid said. “I already know how it ends. He learns how to play baseball.” I ignored the kid and peered down at the other faces. “How many of you like dinosaurs?” The marshmal ow boy wiggled his feet so they hit the boy sitting next to him. “Dinosaurs can’t really play baseball. They’d eat people.” I was beginning to remember all of the reasons I hated babysitting.
Elise stepped in front of the kids. “Do you know the reason you’ve never seen me before?” Half the kids looked at her blankly. The other half shook their heads, clearly not grasping the nature of rhetorical questions.
“I’m Santa’s helper from the North Pole,” she said. “I’m here to check and see whether you’re being naughty or nice.” Five pairs of eyes grew wide. Marshmal ow boy’s eyes grew narrow. “Santa doesn’t send people to check up on you.” Elise nodded in agreement. “Usually he doesn’t, but you’re a borderline case. Santa can’t decide whether to give you presents or coal. He told me you didn’t share the toys he gave you last year and you also sass your mother.” The boy gulped and sat very still. He didn’t say a word for the rest of story time. The other kids, however, wouldn’t stay quiet. All through my reading of Danny and the Dinosaur, they kept interrupting me to ask Elise questions about the North Pole.
“Where does Santa keep the reindeer?” one girl asked.
“We used to keep them outside, but they kept flying away and getting lost, so now they’re inside.”
“Inside the house?”
“Sure. It’s a big house. They’re like pets, only they leave hoof prints on the ceiling sometimes. It bothers Mrs. Claus when they do that.” When it was Elise’s turn to read, she picked a book of classic fairy tales but changed the stories. She was in the middle of telling how Cinderel a told off her wicked stepsisters, took one of their dresses, and went to the ball on her own, when a girl raised her hand. “My little brother did a doo-doo.”
Elise regarded her patiently. “Santa’s special helpers don’t change diapers. But do you see that girl over there?” Elise pointed to Samantha at the craft table. “She’s common, ordinary rabble, and she’d be happy to take care of any doo-doo
Similar Books
