Adventures In Babysitting

The weekend before last we babysat the Hensley girls, names Kayla Zane and Jenna Grace, ages five going on six and two going on three respectively. Kayla is the poised, elegant older sister; long brown hair, soulful eyes, thoughtful and ethereal. Jenna by comparison is the Tasmanian Devil: a shock of unruly blond hair and blue eyes, mercurial, emotional, messy and indestructible; a typical two year old, larger than life. It probably bears mentioning that Kayla was very similar to her little sister at a similar stage in her life, albeit not quite the Tomboy that JG is.

Quarterly or so, the Hensley Girls come to stay with us overnight, and occasionally for a weekend. Their parents go to great pains to provide a naturalistic diet and lifestyle, with lots of vegetables, fiber and roots untainted by pesticides or preservatives, mostly raised in a homeopathic environment, heavy on nature and light on preservatives. The milk and most of the foodstuffs they consume are steroid-free, the supplements all contain naturally occurring substances that strengthen their immune systems, and the infrequent animal proteins are free-range, locally produced and have themselves achieved a fair degree of self-actualization before going under the knife.

Hippie culture influenced by science, one might say. Liberal in the best sense of the word, the Hensleys are very open-minded folks when it comes to their Kids' upbringing, including who they entrust them to. There's a double handful of relatives and friends who the girls visit with on a regular basis, and we are on the honored list. Cheryl mentioned that they encourage it because their circle of friends and family is, well, eclectic, and her sound theory is that the girls will glean the good stuff, end up more self-sufficient and sociable, and being kids, are durable and resilient enough to handle the changes in diet and routine.

When they visit the Smith Household, that means access to things they are likely not to have regular exposure to in the course of a day in their own home. I am referring, of course, to four different kinds of ice cream, girl scout cookies, individually wrapped American cheese slices, microwavable pizza bites, far too much television and a Little Pony marathon on my laptop, virtually none of it certified organic or likely under any circumstances to be ever mistaken as such. Not to say that it's all bad or unhealthy here in Tower Oaks. It is to say that it is very much influenced by my habits and very little influenced by science, with Mama Sharon acting a ref, such as when the Girls ask me for ice cream after breakfast, a decision I sensibly punt to her.

The culture thing, though, works both ways. Since Mom brings over prepackaged meals for the Girls, I get first hand exposure to the joys of Almond butter and whole grain sandwiches, home-made Spanikopita, and an antipasti of hydroponically grown dwarf peppers, cherry tomatoes and radishes; and since they are both very generous little girls – not to mention cunning and motivated negotiators - over the course of the weekend I had the opportunity to sample it all. More about that later.

Anyway, we love our younger friends. They expose us to so many new and interesting things.

And all that said, it's clear their diet for the Girls works. They are healthy, socially adept, extremely bright, bursting with energy and show not the slightest interest in video games, texting or Reality TV. They will happily play for hours under a dining room table draped with blankets, a battalion of stuffed animals recruited as their playmates. And while they can zone out with the best of them on a cartoon marathon, there is barely a sigh of protest when Mama Sharon says "enough TV; you kids need to play."

When they come to visit, Sharon and I mark our time with Kayla Zane and Jenna Grace by episodes. By that I mean some event worth taking note of, whether it is JG's endless capacity to disassemble puzzles, furniture and major appliances without a single tool, or KZ negotiating for unlimited My Little Pony access on my laptop using the Assumptive Close, a technique I didn’t master in sales until I was in my mid-thirties.

Anyway, I've whipped up a series of episodes of their most recent visit that I'll share over the next couple weeks. Those that know the Girls know that these stories write themselves. Those that don't will soon figure it out. Such a short visit; so many stories to tell. I'll post the first one tomorrow.....