Night Two

Night two of babysitting:

{In case you missed yesterday's post, click here.}

Background information: You need to know that at this house, every time you open an outside door, there is a voice that says, "Garage door opening." And you can hear it throughout the house. Just remember that for later.

Soooo I went back the next night a little nervous. I mean wouldn't you be nervous if the kid had thrown a home phone at your head?

That's what I thought.

The night was going pretty smoothly. I had Four in the bed. Seven and Nine were cuddling with me as I read them a book. We were just about done with the story and I was about to put them to bed.

All of a sudden, the power went off. Immediately after the lights went out, the door voice went off. Only I couldn't hear what it said.

Naturally, my first thought was

"Oh my word. Someone just cut off the power and broke into the house."

No joke. My heart was pounding.

To make matters worse, all three children are terrified of the dark. Like they sleep with their lights on because they just can't handle it. So you can imagine how upset they were.

I tried to get the kids to be silent. I told them that we didn't want to wake up Four. Really, I just didn't want the (possible) intruders to know we were in the house. I'd rather stay alive, thank you very much.

Fortunately, earlier that day I had seen a flashlight laying in the floor of Nine's room. I had picked it up and told her, "Let's turn this off. We don't want the battery to run out."
Praise the Lord I had seen this. I know that was such a God thing.

I picked up Nine and Seven (who wouldn't let go of me for anything) and started walking slowly to Nine's room. We were being super quiet and then Four started crying. Of course then I was thinking, "Oh goodness. The intruders know we're here now. I'm going to die. The kids are going to die. The parents are going to kill me."

We got the flashlight and ran to Four's room. I shut the door and went to lock it. Oh but wait. The door locks from the outside. Now I was thinking, "Someone is coming to get us and I have no way to stop them."

At this point, I was stuck in a bedroom that wouldn't lock with one flashlight and three kids who are scared of the dark. And no phone to call for help.

I realized that I had to somehow make it to the living room to get my phone. (Where was that darn home phone when you needed it?)

The only problem was that the kids didn't want to stay by themselves. The only way I could get my phone was if they came with me. I stuck my head out the door to see if I could see/hear anyone. It was pitch black so that was to no avail. We started walking slowly to the living room. I was praying the entire time, "Lord, don't let someone get us. I have no way to protect myself or these kids. Please keep us safe" over and over again.

While we were walking, I made sure all the doors were locked. Nothing was open so I started to calm down. Maybe no one had broken in after all. I got my phone, texted the mother, and then called my mom.

She was freaking out. What are the chances that something bad would happen again with these kids?!

The next five hours consisted of me getting the kids to sleep (by telling them we were having a sleepover), assuring the mom we were okay, praying no one was in the house, and trying to stay awake.

Right before the parents got home, the power came back on. I did a quick walk-through of the house to make sure we were alone. Praise the Lord there were no intruders. The parents came home and were so amazed that I had gotten the kids to sleep in all that craziness.

Suffice it to say, those were two of the most eventful nights of my life. And I got a HUGE bonus for all the stress I went through.

If I learned anything about myself in those two nights of babysitting, it's that I handle myself extremely well in a crisis. Let's just hope I don't have to deal with this again. One time was enough.

"I'm telling your mom..."

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted last. I have a good excuse though. Promise. Here's the story:

{warning: it's a little long}

April 18th was to be an exciting day for me. I had class, work, then a babysitting job lined up. All before 6.

At 6, I planned to go to my friend's birthday dinner and then to Bible study right after.

Class and work went as expected. But things did not go so well when I was babysitting. I was only there for about two hours. But oh.my.word. Those were possibly the worst two hours of my life.

I was watching three kids: a girl and two boys. Ages 9, 7, and 4. The four year old is a wild card. I never really know what to expect from him. He can be super sweet one day, then crazy angry and destructive the next. When I got to their house, he was in a pretty good mood.

As I was playing with Four and Seven, he picked up their mom's digital camera. Where he found it, I have no idea. Seven immediately looked at me and whispered, "He can't have that!"

So me, being the babysitter extraordinaire that I am, tried to sneak it away from him. Trick him, if you will.

"Let me take a picture of you!"

That was a mistake. He figured out what I was trying to do. So began the screaming and crying. He threw himself on the floor. When he got up, he started throwing little toys at us that were laying around him. I walked out of the room to let him calm down a bit.

That's when I heard a loud boom. I ran into the living room to find that he had flipped over the coffee table. I'm not talking about a small, little table. I'm talking a thick, heavy, wooden table.

He's four. And he just flipped over a table. Because that's normal.

So naturally I walked over the pick it up. As I was bending over, something hit my head. I knew that it was probably bad but I couldn't really feel anything for the first few seconds. I looked down and saw a home telephone laying by my feet.

Yes. That's right. He threw a home phone at my head. Because that's also normal.

When I stood back up, my entire body felt tingly. I can't really remember the next two minutes but I'm pretty sure I said something along the lines of

"Oh my gosh. I'm telling your mom."

Real mature.

The next thing I remember is being in the bathroom and staring at a golf ball sized lump right above my temple. Complete with a bleeding cut.

I don't know how I did it, but I managed to make it through the next 45 minutes without crying. I also managed to calm the kid down. 

{Even though I was ready to throw a phone at his head. Not really. But kinda.}

When I got back in my car after the parents got home, I called my mom and immediately broke down. I was sobbing hysterically. My mom was freaking out and couldn't understand a word I was saying. When I was finally able to tell her the story, she was all,

"I'm coming to Athens right this second."

Of course I told her not to come. She made me promise I would check in every hour to make sure I didn't pass out or anything. I went home, got in the bed, and cried for a solid two hours. Mostly because I was in pain. But also because I was in shock that I had a freaking home phone thrown at my head.

Needless to say, I didn't go to my friend's dinner or to Bible study. But my sweet friends came to visit me! It was like I was on my death bed or something. Visitors just kept coming.

And my mom even surprised me! She came to Athens anyways and brought me yummy goodies. Chocolate, ice cream, the works.

So there you have it. If you made it to the end, I give you mad props. I didn't realize how long of a story that was! Crazy night for sure.

Yesterday was the first day I didn't have a constant headache. I'm finally feeling back to normal. My bruise is all yellow and green. Now I just need the bump to go away.

Want to know what else is crazy? I went back the next night to babysit them again. And went through another crisis. Stay tuned tomorrow for the deets.

Ciao!

I have finally been placed with an Italian family for my study abroad trip this May!

Eeeeeeekkk!!!

It's almost creepy how alike our families are:

-four kids (three boys, one girl)

-the kids are about the same ages as my brothers and me

-girl plays the violin and piano

-they love the mountains

-they love to ride bikes/play sports

-they go to church

-mom loves to bake

It just can't get any better than that! I am soooooo excited to meet them in person. Let the email conversations begin!

"I know what Easter is all about."

My kindergarten class had an Easter egg hunt today after lunch. We hid the eggs on the playground and the kids went crazy!

{Oh and by "hid," I mean we literally just threw them on the ground. We had over 200 eggs and about 10 hiding spots.}

After we came back inside, a little girl in my class started tugging on my shirt to tell me something.

Student: Miss Sarah, I know what Easter is all about.

Me: You do?! Tell me.

S: It's about Jesus!

M: That's right! And what happened??

S: He died.

M: Andddd...

S: He came back alive!

M: Yes He did!

Seriously made my day. Child-like faith. I love it.

Be Yourself

I stumbled upon this on Jaclyn's blog, which I just stumbled upon today.

{I've apparently been stumbling a lot lately}

Love that.