Oh, the mind of a child....

I babysat my brother's kids last night. Some people pay me money for this service. My brother and sister-in-law pay me with dinner and the use of their washer and dryer (as if time with my nieces and nephews isn't payment enough.) So, I loaded my tons of laundry into my car and headed over to their house right after school yesterday. The little ones were all in good spirits. They were very excited to see me and had that delightful childish curiosity about everything I was doing.

Anyway, while my sister-in-law finished cooking the delicious dinner, I started right away with putting my laundry in the washer so that I wouldn't have to be there all night to get it finished. Of course, all three kids wanted to watch me do it. My nephew (4 and 1/2) was telling about everything in the room. My youngest niece (19 months) stood on mommy's treadmill marching in place and shaking the support bars trying very hard to get it to work. Once in a while, she would stop, look down by her feet and say, "grrr." Then she'd started marching and shaking again. The question of the night, though, came from my other niece (3 and 1/2). She had been quietly watching me, singing, and occasionally asking a question or two. Finally, her curiosity got the best of her. She said, "Why are you doing what mommy's supposed to do?"