Dance the night away!

today I got to be the pied piper!

Weird--who wants to be the pied piper? But seriously, I ran into so many kids I used to babysit for at the park today that they were all literally pulling me in opposite directions. And...I loved it. It's kind of like when I take Mulligan for a walk or make her wait outside Walgreens for me, and people are constantly saying, "What kind of dog is he?" "How old is your doggy?" "Oh my god, she's so cute! What's her name?" No one else I know gives Mulligan that much attention (which she rightfully deserves) so sometimes when she seems low, I take her out to the streets of LaGrange so we can both feel like celebrities, even if we're getting love from people who don't know us. We're stars! But this morning I went to babysit for a family who recently got a new addition and the two I babysat for (while the mom took the newborn out), Lizzie and Doyle, are so fun and easy to play with. They're excited by everything I show them, and I forgot how much I'm obsessed with babysitting, especially when the kids look at you like you're smartest, neatest, funniest person on the planet (aside from their parents, but they have rules, and I don't, so hah!). Maybe I'm just immature and "too" in touch with my young self, but I get along so well with the kids I babysit for. We ran into Liam and Owen (and their pregant mom Colleen) at Memorial Park, and oh my god, I've never had such a welcoming. I hadn't seen them since I got home from Europe and I've babysat for them since Liam was a baby. Liam saw me from across the park and yelled my name, then Owen ran at me to give me a hug while Liam was hiding under the slide. Then Liam (who once told his mom, "Mama, Sarah's a real pretty girl"--too bad he's not twenty years older, I could at last marry a true Irishman and make my grandma die a happy woman) ran over to give me a huge hug and I almost felt like crying...these two got to meet Maura and Will one afternoon when we were in downtown LG (at the candy shop--no wonder kids like me) and the three big kids took them to the Cossitt School park. I kind of felt like a real adult, even though we had climb over the fence and hoist them between "big kids" in order to get to the playground.

Also at Memorial Park, while I was freaking out over Liam and Owen, Maggie ran up next to me, a girl I used to babysit for last summer and the summer before (well, actually, she is one person who is as obsessed with Mulligan as I am, but completely brought on by my stories and devotion). She was there with her brothers Kevin and John, and their new (!) babysitter, Moira--I'm suddenly feeling like I only know Irish people. I'd had some ups and downs with them bc we were together constantly and they were older, so they got bored easier and weren't as impressed with my bizarre voices and hopscotch skills. I'm totally going to be the mom who, once their kids hit ten, they'll start telling me, "Gaaahhhd, Maaaahhhmmmm...you're so embarrassing and WEIRD. Why can't you be more like Madison's mom? She's a cool mom!" To which I'll respond, "FINE! You want me to be a 'cool mom'? Go up in my underwear drawer and grab some of my mushrooms and we'll go trip in the backyard! Is that cool enough for you?!" Just kidding. I'm still not sure what I will do as a parent about smoking, drinking, and drugs. Definitely don't want to be the house where constant keggers are thrown each weekend and teens have sex in my bedrooms and drunken high schoolers piss all over my geraniums. Yuck. I don't think I'll have any geraniums at my house anyways. Well, Liam and Owen had to go grocery-shopping with Colleen, and before they left, Liam said to me, "Sarah, you want to come over to my house tomorrow?" And then he said, "Can I ask you something?" I said sure. Then he says really quietly, "Can I have a hug?" Again, I almost died. I probably made his mom jealous as hell though. Oh well, I'm jealous he's not my son.

What else...still waiting to hear about my Prentice Hall job. I have to be at home tomorrow to answer a call at 1230 from the director of recruiting so I'm not getting too excited yet. Oh, and Sean Wilsey emailed me, and I emailed him back, told him to check out Bloc Party (he was a big Cure fan) and how I fought Brad on the topic of Bloc Party's worthiness on Saturday...I still don't think people who work at Urban Outfitters are allowed to make music assessments just bc they're heavily into "underground music." I'm still a little fuming. Maybe once I get Sean Wilsey on my side, I can be like, in your face Brad!

posted by SES @ 8:29 PM