Downside of Text Messaging

There are a lot of good things about having your best friend watch your kids for you. Like they’re safe, well cared for, eating right blah, blah, blah. The downside of this situation is that she has your cell phone number, text messaging capabilities and she’s not afraid to use them. This is the predicament that I am in. During the day, I get random little gems from Paula like these:

"I’m in the kitchen feeding Cam when I hear a loud scream “mom” I go into Natasha’s room to find her tied to the bed post…Guess who did it?"

"Iz just causally announced ‘my dad says naughty words sometimes’ to everyone."

"The girls are playing house and Izzy is insisting on being the daddy. I had no idea she was so knowledgable on alternative lifestyles."

This one came with a photo.

"Aunt Paula shut the door' That's a direct quote. By the way she crawled in there by herself."

I’m always half excited, half extremely scared when my cell phone text message notice goes off. I always laugh when I read them but it’s more of a “I’m scared that my child is going to be one of those adults that eats live animals” kind of chuckle. Trust me when I say that it’s hard to explain to your boss why you need to leave early because your child may have caused a hostage situation at the babysitters. When my kids were at a daycare, I was always told I was welcome to call for status updates but it always seemed like a safety issue to pull someone away from an entire group of kids just so they could bring me up to date on the current shenanigans of my strong willed three year old. I got enough of the “Sammy bit Izzy today because she told him that he wasn’t her best friend anymore because he has peas for brains” notes in Isabelle’s locker to keep me in the loop. Now that Paula keeps me posted much more regularly, I’m finding out crazy things about my little girl. I’m also finding out what other people think of my parenting skills as Natasha so sweetly reminded me one morning. “Izzy ALWAYS looks like she has rats in her hair.” In the daycare days, I would slap a hat on Izzy’s unbrushed hair and feign surprise when they pulled it off by saying “Wow Izzy you sure get hat hair fast”. Sigh. Paula sees right through that time saving charade. But this new arrangement has become mutually beneficial for both parties as Paula pointed out, “There’s a lot more to laugh at now that Izzy comes by everyday. You never know what you are going to get.” And I kind of like it that way.