The Magic of Kids

I adore my sister's kids. To me, they're the single cutest duo in the known Universe, and perhaps anywhere else. I love the way that they get excited to see me in a way that nobody else does; faces lit up, grubby hands flailing and yelling and screaming in cacaphonic greeting. Sammy is four and just started pre-kindergarden. I have been vaguely aware for some time that school seems to be starting earlier and earlier for children...Anyway, Sam LOVES school. No separation anxiety, no tales of woe from the playground, nothing. He's even got the teacher's very complicated name memorized. Even I said "Her name is what again?" when my sister told me. He's super active and has a question a minute, sometimes not even waiting for an answer as something else has just caught his fancy. He's learned how to call me long distance at work and inquire how my day is going, if I'm fixing computers and if it's not too much trouble could I fix Mummy's computer next time I come for a visit? Mummy says it's not working. "Can I fix it? Yes, I can!" I say. When he's not testing the limits of my sister's patience with his endless inquiries about the 'why' of everything, he's the super organized Alexander the Great of his own backyard, dressed in the silver plastic gladiator getup that we got him for his birthday. He's saved me twice from the dragons in the shed. He's very brave.

Madeleine on the other hand, while no less cute, is of a more laid-back and inquisitive nature. She's 2 1/2 now and my husband says that she's an angel on the outside and a devil on the inside. Not a bad devil of course, but more of a clever, sneaky little one. She's a mimic too. She's adapted various facial and verbal expressions of my sister's to her own devices. Most of them I recognize, so it's hard not to crack up when Maddie uses one on me. "Just 2 more minutes, Auntie" she says, raising her little eyebrows in an expression that will still any sort of objection that I may have about staying at the park for those 2 extra minutes. Maddie and I talk about ants and their purpose on this earth, the moon and why monsters hide in the closet and only come out at night. "It's because they're afraid of people" I tell her. "We're too loud and messy. They come out at night after we're sleeping so that they can play quiet monster games without all the scary people noises. Why do you think they hide during the day? It's because we scare thema and we smell funny." She nods in understanding and asks questions to verify the truth of my words. We discuss various monster games and what monsters eat for supper. Before she goes to bed, Maddie goes into her brothers room, kneels down by his bed and yells under it "I'm going to bed now!" Hee!

Man I love those kids! I'm going up to babysit this weekend. Who knows what adventures we'll have??