When I first started babysitting River and Ibo, I was just sitting and watching them for a few hours here and there while their mom went off on an errand of some kind. Most of the time they would just sit quietly and do their homework or watch TV. They were the kindest and sweetest little kids I’d ever met.
So imagine my surprise when I found a puddle on the floor and two little kids pointing figures at each other.
“He did it!” River pointed at Ibo.
“Not she did!” he pointed back.
River was ten and Ibo was eight, both far too old to be having accidents like that. Moments after the puddle was discovered, their mother arrived home and apologized for the incident. She kicked me a few extra bucks and sent me off. As I made it out the front door I heard some banter that lead me to believe this was not the first such incident. As I continued to watch the two, I learned it wasn’t going to be the last either.
I never did figure out which one of the two sweet angels had produced the puddle,but over time as my babysitting jobs became more involved I was invited into the family secret.
The next time I watched the two, their mother again apologized for the incident and reminded me to limit their sugary liquids.
The job after that, I was instructed to make sure they both went to the bathroom regularly.
Upon my first after bedtime job, I was finally told, rather bluntly, that both River and Ibo had to wear a Pull-Up to bed. They were both capable of putting them on themselves, I just had to make sure they were under their PJs before they went to bed.
That night, Ibo proudly showed off his Iron Man battle pants, while it took a brief tantrum from River and a stern talking too before she returned from the bathroom with Tinkerbell underneath her flame retardant nightdress.
They were the first bedwetters I ever had to deal with. I didn’t know what to expect. But it went by pretty uneventfully. If I was watching them passed bedtime I simply had to make sure they had them on and that was that.
When summer started, I offered to help out more and was tasked with some day trips around town. There was the local park, the library, and other such fun attractions. Their mother warned me to ensure that they didn’t drink too much and went to the bathroom often.
One day, however, things took a turn for the strange.
I was informed that on days when the kids would be going on extra-long travels, such as long car trips, they were to be out in their nighttime Pull-Ups, just in case. And if they were going to somewhere a bit exciting and lacking in easily accessible bathrooms, such as an amusement park, the Pull-Ups stayed on.
My first trip into the city with them was to the science museum north of city. Since we lived in the eastern suburbs, we had to take a bus ride into downtown and then catch the free subway that lead straight to the museum.
“The bus ride will be about twenty minutes,” I told them as we were packing up, “And the train will be about the same. But when you factor in walking to and waiting at the bus stop, plus getting to the train station and waiting there, we’re looking at an almost hour long commute.”
“Cut to the chase,” River said, “We’re wearing Pull-Ups, right?”
“Right,” I said.