Day 9. Sunshine and Spaghetti-O's

You know in the winter time when the sunshine hits your living room rug in just the right spot? Today was one of those days. I had the day off and the sunshine in the morning made it difficult to leave the couch. I laid back, my face fully covered by sun, and relaxed. I could hear the dog breathing heavily and the music on Pandora was playing IZ's version of Over the Rainbow. I let my mind wander and I thought of simpler times. 

The days when I would put my newborn son in the beam to help cure his jaundice.

The days when I would find our black lab Gracie or our guinea pig patches soaking in the warmth. 

The days when I would sit a tea pot into the bright sun and watch the bags release their flavors into the water.

Then I was reminded of my day 'at the beach' with my niece, Kristy. 

It was one of those springs when one day it was 50 and the next it would drop down to 20. My sister 

Ginny and brother-in-law Dennis had to work and I had been asked to babysit, I guess Judy was busy. It was the best part of being an Aunt, spending time with my nieces. 

At the time Ginny and Dennis were living in apartments off of Packard Avenue in Cudahy. It was a two-bedroom on the first floor. I thought it was so cool that they had a place all their own. It had big patio doors that led out to a small slab surrounded by bushes. In the summer months Ginny would put Kristy's playpen on the patio and she would smile and wave at people walking past.

It was always fun going there since I knew the area well - it was just down the block from Black Bear soda and the paper depot my brother would go to each day to pick up the newspapers for his route. There was a small grocery store, Ola's next to it. When I spent the night I would wake up early and walk to Ola's for a box of 25 cent waffles.

One of my friends from grade school, Grace T. lived up the block and if the day were nicer I would have put Kristy in her stroller and walked up the block to hang out by Grace's. She had been one of my best friends when I went to Lincoln School and I tried to check in on her whenever I was nearby.

Grace lived in a two-story home with a piano on each floor. I was envious of her thick black hair that she kept braided down her back. My mom always made sure we had the latest short hairstyle and my 'Carol Brady' shag haircut was never long enough to make a ponytail, let alone a braid.

But this post isn't about Grace, it's about Kristy and our day at the beach.

Or the pretend beach. 

I may not have been the first person the parents thought of when they wanted to hire a sitter, but I guarantee you I was the first one the kids asked for! The reason for this was because of my imagination and my joy of playing.

I wasn't the stereotypical babysitter that made sure the kids were safe while I did my homework. Oh, no, not me. I made sure the kids were entertained by playing make-believe. 

Today was one of the days when the sun was in the perfect spot. It filled almost the entire living room, making you feel like you were sitting outside enjoying a great day of summer vacation.

We had already played with Kristy's playskool toys, read books, chased each other up and down the hallway, played dress up, watched cartoons on the television and jumped on the couch (well I held Kristy's hands while she jumped on the couch), .

We had just finished a nutritious kid meal of Spaghetti-o's and hotdogs, I was doing the dishes while trying to think of something fun we could do for the afternoon. The weather outside wasn't cooperating enough to really spend time on the patio or play on the grass. It was too melty and wet.

I looked out the patio doors and saw Kristy's blue plastic swimming pool leaning up against the bushes. That was it! We would spend the afternoon relaxing 'on the beach'. I went to the hall closet and grabbed a couple of towels. I took Kristy to her room and put her in her swimming suit. On the way past the thermometer I cranked the heat up to 95. I mean, how could you spend a day on the beach if it was only 68?

I put the swimming pool on the floor between the living room and small patio. Now to fill it. First I needed to empty the dishpan I had been using - so I tossed the soapy, spaghetti water into the pool.  I filled and emptied the dishpan a few more times (8 or 10) until we had a nice wading pool to relax in. Now that I think of it, I may have been the original inventor of the at home patio hot tub!

We were enjoying our day at the beach - playing in the pool with some of Kristy's toys when I realized the room was getting kind of hot. So, I turned on the window air conditioner to cool it down.

In my minds eye I was seeing my sister walking in the door and smiling at the great job I was doing entertaining Kristy and giving her the chance to play in her pool. Our day at the beach was really turning into a nice break from the ordinary. 

Imagine my surprise when Ginny came in the door, took one look at her living room, felt the heat pouring from their electric wall heaters, realized that the air conditioner was also running, and basically blew a gasket.

What I had never thought - or really knew - was that heat and electric bills were not part of the rent, or that running them both at the same time would make the next months bills so high that even buying 25 cent waffles may be hard.

Looking back I really feel bad about that, I guess I owe Ginny for that one, but it really was a fun day at the beach. Spaghetti-O's and all.