Sometimes

So last Sunday morning, I heard a knock on the door while I was watching a movie (Hitch, ya know, the one with Will Smith?). It was two of my little cousins, Hailey and Levi (6 and 8 years old, I think?) who live in the apartment upstairs from mine. They were going on a spiel about how they were told to come down to my house if Kirk, their older brother, who is my age, was being mean to them. It was morning and I was confused.. why couldn't Heather, their mom, just deal with Kirk?

But then I noticed the tears in Hailey's eyes that I hadn't noticed before. Instead of just shutting them down and sending them right back upstairs, I had a moment of compassion. (Not that it only happens when I see kids crying, but these two kids are just a-n-n-o-y-i-n-g. I suppose it's not really their fault, cause, they're just kids, ya know?) So I allowed them inside, on the conditions that 1) They stay quiet because my mom and sister were still sleeping, and 2) They sit and finish the movie with me (it was almost over anyway).

Before the movie finished, though, my mom came out and was surprised to see them sitting on the couch next to me. I guess they hadn't been that loud, afterall.. yet.

Although when the movie did finish, I wasn't sure what to do next. Yeah, I'd babysat them and hung out with them (ha. ha.) before, but one of our favorite things to do was play Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on the computer-- and my mom was on it. As I walked into the kitchen to get a drink, I spotted a bunch of empty Diet Coke cans by the sink, waiting to be recycled. I collect soda can tabs, but I knew I would never have the patience to get all of these off myself. (Yeah, it's an easy task, but still.) So I came up with a little game, even though I knew it wouldn't entertain them for long.

I called Levi and Hailey into the kitchen and set three cans before each of us. I told them it would be a game, and then I started to explain, "Whoever gets the tabs off first, wins!" It wasn't very fun, but I think they enjoyed it. And I got the tabs for my collection, which I had to show them. (They wanted to see it.)

So after our little game thing, we decided to draw pictures.

Now, I'm not an artist. I really, truly wish I could be. But I am just not coordinated. I'll attempt a picture that will look great in my minds eye, and then once it's on paper, it's.. just not good at all.

The perk of drawing with little kids, is that most of them are not very good drawers yet. So drawing with Levi and Hailey was rather fun, because they actually liked what I drew. And when they tried to copy my drawings, theirs were actually.. worse than mine! It was amazing. Of course, I told them that theirs was good and all that, because how could they be great, when their at such a young age? So all in all, drawing with them was fun.

A lot of the time, kids can get on my nerves. Specifically my little cousins, because they live so close to me. But I still love 'em; how couldn't I? Sometimes it's not so bad to rescue them from their mean big brother.. for a while.