The Sitter Routine

Two Mondays ago we had a babysitter come over. As soon as she got there I went about the usual routine of showing her around the house. I did the usual things you would expect. I showed her the milk in the fridge, the changing table upstairs, and the basket where all the toys are. Gabby can be pretty fussy when mom and dad are gone, so I shared with her a secret one of our babysitters tried. Gabby was crying inconsolably and the babysitter decided to try and fool Gabby into thinking one of either mom or dad was really there. Because the babysitter was white, she thought it would be impossible to fool Gabby into thinking Irie was home, so she decided to dress up like me. “So,” I told this babysitter, “if you get desperate here is where I keep my jackets and hat.”

After all those preliminary details, I finally came to the serious stuff. “In case of emergency,” I said, “here are all our contact numbers, and here is my cell phone you can feel free to use at any time, and here, mounted on the wall, is our fire extinguisher.” “Well, I hope Gabby won’t be setting any fires,” she said. “Well you never know,” I said, “she is a preacher’s kid after all.”