A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of joining my friend Faye
for a babysitting gig. Here’s how it went.
You are invited: to help me babysit
Honorees: 2 adorable grandchildren (Amaya & Selma)
Location of Venue: Richmond, VA
Time: Wednesday ‘till Friday
I gotta say, I never hesitated. Faye and I always have a good time…wherever
we’re headed, whatever we’re headed into.
So off we went to Richmond with an open itinerary. Our charge was to deliver and pick up the
girls from school, feed them and put them to bed. There
were no long lists (left by their mom) as to what to feed, when to bed down and
how to spend the afternoon hours until lights out. The details were left up to us and
Our location was picture perfect. The girls live (with their parents) in a
beautiful old 3 story townhome in the heart of Richmond known as the Fan
District. Here the streets fan out like
the spokes of a wheel, and the traffic roundabouts are adorned with massive
statues of mostly Civil War heroes. (There
is one renegade statue of hometown local Arthur Ashe) Tree lined sidewalks, quaint coffee and bake shops
dotted about, and every house spit-spot, make this neighborhood totally charming.
We walked the girls to school both mornings. The scene on the school yard corner is truly
Norman Rockwell; mothers with strollers, children with scooters, daddies on
bicycles and folks just milling about talking and visiting with one
another. They are waiting for a
connecting bus to the pre-school, or waiting for the morning bell to ring
signaling it’s time to bring the children inside. And indeed they do. When the bell rings, everyone…mothers,
fathers, grandmothers and fathers and sitters and nannies all escort their
darlings into the building, down the halls right into their respective
classrooms. Where, I will add, the
teacher is at the door to greet everyone with a cheerful good morning! It was wonderful!
By 8:45 in the morning, we had adeptly performed our
duties and were foot loose and fancy free until 3:15. It goes without saying (or maybe I should)
that we used our time wisely, or at least used it to our liking. Our “to do and to see” list was much longer
than the hours we had to fill. The only
task we had promised to do while in Richmond was to locate a particular beer
supply store, and buy George the ingredients needed for his next brew batch. It
took a bit of time to find the tiny hole-in-the-wall, but once we did, the well
informed fellow behind the counter took charge, and while we shopped the
antique/thrift shops across the street, he pulled things off his shelves, mixed
up concoctions and totaled it all up for us.
One swipe of the credit card and we were out of there with two bags
full.
We had a blast. We
shopped ‘till we dropped at every thrift shop in the west end. We swung by Trader Joes and stocked up on
specialty items. We lingered over sweet,
rich coffee at Kuba-Kuba and had French fries for lunch. Oh, what decadence.
We found a couple of real treasures…a red leather chair and
a wooden porch bench. Fitting it all
into the back of the car was a real jigsaw puzzle, but we were determined.
It was 3:15 before we were half way down our list, and we
sped back to pick up the girls. That’s
when the fun really started. We drove
over to Maymont, a breathtakingly beautiful park with 100 acres of gardens, fountains
and waterfalls. The impressive Victorian
mansion on the grounds was built in 1893, and the entire property was given to
the town of Richmond by the owners for future generations to enjoy. The park also serves as a sanctuary for
injured birds and animals or otherwise endangered species. We got up close and personal with an enormous
pair of black bears, and shared a moment with a fox being served his evening
meal.
In spite of the late afternoon heat, we had a blast. Selma gave us a solo performance of “It’s a
Hard Knock Life” while standing in the middle of the dome topped pergola. We
all marveled at the “surround sound” effect the architecture afforded. We enjoyed several repeat performances.
A pizza dinner, ice cream cones and bedtime stories topped
off our busy day. Everyone had fun.
I gotta say, I think we handled our job in a responsible and
trustworthy manner. We may even have
performed it with a bit of style and grace.
Humm, just a glimpse
into what may lie ahead. Maybe I’ll need Faye to tag-team with me some
day. Raleigh here we come!
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