During the school holidays, my friend’s sister asked me to baby-sit her four-year-old son one Saturday night. I agreed, thinking it would be an easy way to earn some extra pocket money. When I arrived at the house, I was introduced to the child, Kris.
After the parents had left, I asked Kris what he would like to play. Train,' came the answer. So I brought out his train set and helped him to put the tracks together. After a short while, he must have got bored and wandered off. I was concentrating on setting up the train set properly and did not notice his disappearance. Suddenly, there was a loud crash. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I was terrified to see that Kris was nowhere in sight. I ran to look for him and found him in the kitchen. He was standing in the middle of a big mess. Tins and containers of every size were all over the floor. A bag of flour had spilled its contents on to the floor. 'I'm hungry,' said Kris. It was not yet his dinner time. But I decided to let him have his dinner while I cleaned up the mess. There was a bowl of porridge for his dinner. Kris stared at it and said he was not hungry.But you said you were hungry just now!’ I said in frustration. ‘I want egg sandwich,’ Kris announced. I told Kris firmly that he had to eat the porridge. He seemed to give in and began to eat. With a sigh of relief, I started to clean up the mess.
One tin had rolled under the table where Kris was eating his dinner. I bent down to get it. Something wet and sticky landed on the back of my neck. It was the porridge! Kris grinned mischievously. I counted to ten slowly to control my temper as I wiped the porridge off my neck, my hair and my clothes. Kris also had porridge all over his face and shirt. I had to give him a bath.
Kris refused to have a bath. I had to carry him, kicking and yelling to the bathroom. In the end, I was as wet as he was and feeling bruised all over. When Kris refused to change for bed, I lost my patience and smacked his bottom. How he yelled, screamed and rolled on the floor. What a performance! I watched him and said nothing. He peeked at me and decided not to waste his time. He was tired out by then. I put him in bed and read him a story. We were friends by the time he fell asleep.
When the parents arrived home, they were pleased to see their son sleeping peacefully. They asked if I could baby-sit Kris again. I said, ‘No!’ My first experience as a baby-sitter was also my last.
Vocabulary
mess confusion
grinned smiled