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Where be my Little Mermaids?

Growing up, did anyone else love The Little Mermaid?

sberryscake

Pink Lady meal: chocolate pb (unpictured) and Strawberry Shortcake Pudding.

And then I babysat for the world’s most energetic child!

ann

(Note Henry in the background. If you try to get too close to him, he’ll run away. Poor guy is deathly afraid of the water. Thinks he’s a cat, I guess.) How did I get stuck wearing the water wings? Well, I think I offended my little friend when I asked if she needed them. Her response to me: “I’m a big girl and don’t need floaties. YOU wear them!” Touché!

Published on August 23, 2010

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50 Comments

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  1. ecogrrl says

    wow, okay here’s the age difference thing possibly coming to be (not sure how old you are so don’t want to assume…). i took my little sisters who are 12-13 years younger than me to see the little mermaid when i was in high school. so i remember them wanting to be ariel, giving them the disney outfits for their birthdays etc. love the mermaid thing but myself detested the dude being the end-all for her happiness. maybe i was a bigger fan of ‘splash’ with tom hanks that came out when i was 11, haha.

    people laugh at me but i’m 36 years old and have never changed a diaper. never thought it necessary and for some crazy reason (not) never wanted to? my thing is, until i have one myself, i don’t ever need to wipe another’s bum. period. 🙂 when everyone got summer jobs i did yardwork or office work instead.

    and nothing to do with kids, i’d rather climb trees with them, that’s all! turn all the girls into tomboys – my sisters and i, we never played house – i remember not being a fan of that when i was a kid either, i’d rather be chasing boys! of course nothing’s new, i suppose…

  2. Jennifer - jcd says

    Ah, Little Mermaid is awesome! I still watch it when I’m at home when it is really cold outside. We even did a Little Mermaid ballet performance two years ago (with the original faiy tale story.)

    I love kids. I used to be a babysitter, an after-school/summer nanny, and a swim instructor, and I’m still a Brownie leader. I also spend a lot of time with my 4 year-old cousin. I even madly want to be a school teacher and/or summer camp counsellor. But, there’s a limit on how much kid time I can handle. I enjoy having kid-free time with my husband too. Being able to return kids to their parents is always nice, especially if they start to misbahave.

    Babies, on the other hand, I’m not such a fan. Nope, sorry.

    I’m glad you had fun with your little guest.

  3. Marina says

    Same here, I do love children, but they can be sooo annoying sometimes 😀
    I did babysit, but mostly when the kids were sleeping, so that’s pretty cool.

  4. VEGirl says

    Sometimes babysitting can get a little wearing (I had a year were I babysat a 2 year old for five hours straight every week), but I really love having conversations with kids. They are such fascinating people to talk to to! And I really like Dragon Tales (you don’t? Shame! JK!).
    VEGirl

  5. MaryZ says

    I baby sat all through high school and did a little in college. I was even a nanny for a couple of summers. I never truly enjoyed it either…I just liked the money:) Now I have my own 3 kids and thankfully they are in there teens and I enjoy them. But little kids are tough…and you can only watch so much kid tv before you want to tear your hair out!

    Way to be a good sport and rock the ‘wings’!

  6. rebecca lustig says

    i loveee babysitting. i think it’s the best job in the world. honestly, if i could be a professional babysitter– i would. its nice to play with kids, watch them grow and learn, while being able to give them back at the end of the day haha.

    you totally rock the swimmies, girl. new fashion trend? i think so!

  7. abby says

    gorgeous, girl!
    both you and the berry breakfast of course ;).
    like the commenter before me, i adore little kiddies. and the money’s not bad either!

  8. Britta says

    Ah! I used to hate wearing those things!! Babysitting is fun but it certainly wears on ya after a while….love love loved the little mermaid! My husband is from New Zealand and still has never seen it, he;s in for a real treat 😉 ha!

  9. Justine says

    Cute bikini friend! 🙂

    I don’t really like kids unless they’re “mine”. (My boyfriend has two girls.) I used to work in restaurants and that pretty much sealed the deal for me.

  10. Valerie says

    I loved the little Mermaid. Still do! And with those cute water wings and your beauty, you could BE the little mermaid :). I agree, much better than being stuck playing Daddy. I always had to play the dog, though! I had older brothers who liked tormenting me!

  11. Rose says

    I used to love babysitting and would really like a few of my own. I understand what you mean though — too much of anything can be annoying.

  12. Maria runningcupcake says

    I used to love babysitting because I would read the kids a story, then they woulkd go to bed and I would either do my homework or watch tv with a cup of tea 🙂
    But I dont do it any more- now I am a teacher I get enough of the children at work!
    Yes LOVE little mermaid 🙂

  13. Katie says

    It’s going to sound awful – considering I’m a teacher – but I HATE babysitting. I love my job, but I do not like entertaining kid’s. I can entertain while I teach – but if it comes without a learning objective, I’ll pass.

  14. Melissa says

    I’m not a kid person. I never really have been – when I was younger I’d babysit (easy money!) and handled kids better… probably because I wasn’t much older then the kids I watched! I never really liked it, though, and I’m worse and worse with kids the older I get. Well, INTERNALLY I am. People who see me with kids always seem to comment that I’m “good with kids” and kids seem to like me? Which is just bizarre to me! Maybe it’s like cats – they loooove the cat allergic person in the room. LOL!

    Full disclosure, I am childfree (childless by choice) and was sterilized at 27 due to not wanting them, ever. I can handle good, well behaved older kids in small doses. Babies I can not handle at all and actively avoid if at all possible. I don’t hate them, I’m just generally indifferent and uninterested. Unless they are yelling/screeching … then I’m in full on flee mode! Very young children I’m really uncomfortable around and don’t know how to interact with them. I’m too easily annoyed by common, normal kid behaviors – asking a billion questions, touching, getting in my personal space, lack of boundaries, etc… I just don’t do well with them! It’s probably related to my social anxiety – I’d have issues with adults who did that stuff, too! 😉 I know it’s part of what kids do and not something they can help. Knowing this, I choose to avoid kids rather than demand they should change such natural kid behaviors.

    Older kids who are in middle school or greater and are basically small adults, I have an easier time with. I feel like I have some common ground to discuss and they are more apt to respect my boundaries and let me politely disengage from them if I need to. Annnnnddddd… now I wait for people to call me a baby hating monster for not loving all kids…

    • Chocolate-Covered Katie says

      hahahahaha oh Melissa, my sister is extremely allergic to cats, and they won’t leave her alone! I always felt a bit snubbed. Like, “Why are they going to her, not me?” LOL, now I know they must have some reverse instinct thing. 😉

  15. thedelicateplace says

    i wanted to BE ariel haha. omg i hate babysitting. i refused to do it in high school and i don’t want to babysit now. my husband and i don’t want kids!

  16. Danielle says

    I’m with you- I don’t like babysitting! Of course, babysitting jobs pay reallyyyy well around here, so I could learn to like it 🙂

    “Growing up, did anyone else love The Little Mermaid?” <– um, YES. I would watch that movie multiple times a day, every single day. To the point where my parents had to "hide the tape" and I thought they threw it away. It was devastating but at the same time I needed to live a life hahaa

  17. Hela says

    i ♥ babysitting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can´t think of anything more fun! i just ♥ children, playing with them, teaching them things, entertaining them and being entertained from them, watching them exploring the world/grow/develop and simply experiencing how unique children are no matter what age they are and how independent kids can be if we just let them!!
    see, i really do love children 🙂 and i´m so looking forward to have my own some day 🙂

  18. Mary @ Bites and Bliss says

    LOVE the water wings, Katie!! And I feel you on the babysitting thing..I’m great with kids, but not huge on babysitting. I did work as a counselor at a camp for three Summers in a row teaching horseback riding..and that was enoguh babysitting to last me for a loooonnnggg while.

  19. Laura says

    I don’t tend to babysit other peoples children…just my little brother..he’s a right handful! I wish he’d play mermaids with me!! xx

  20. Michelle (Housewife in the Raw) says

    Umm, I take care of my own kids all day – that’s kinda like babysitting except you don’t get paid and can’t leave when the parents get home. I used to babysit as a teenager, but, after I’ve had kids, I’ve noticed I don’t have as much patience for kids that aren’t my own (and I don’t always have enough patience for my own).

    We watch Little Mermaid often. My two year old son knows all the words to Part of Their World. Someday he’ll be mortified that I admitted that!

    Once my then 3 year old daughter asked why Ariel wore only a bra and no shirt. Hee hee.

  21. Kiersten says

    The Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney movie. When I was little my cousin and I used to pretend we were mermaids whenever we went swimming. I love kids and am good with them. I babysat my niece after school everyday when I was in middle school/high school. I know what you mean though, after playing Barbie for 3 hours it can make you go a little crazy. Love the water wings!

  22. Katharina says

    Babysitting can be fun as long as you don’t have brats on your hands lol. But your friend doesn’t sound like one at al 😀 I love hanging out with kids actually. They have such vivid imaginations and it’s just so much fun to pretend. I don’t like it when people try to be “real” with their kids.. it just spoils all of the fun, you know what I mean?

    XOXO

    p.s. thank you so much for your concern, girlie! I’m going to write you an email 😀 It’s nothing too dramatic, just an epiphany I guess you could call it and how my liver health was related to my skin issues.

    http://www.ohonemorething.wordpress.com

    • Chocolate-Covered Katie says

      I definitely know what you mean. I once knew a lady who felt you had to be “real” with your pets too! She always rolled her eyes at people who talked baby talk to their dogs. But then she got a dog of her own… suddenly she understood!!

  23. Lisa says

    Holy mermaids, you are so beautiful, rocking those water wings. One of the very few of us who can look good in neon orange! Goodness knows, I can’t. 😉

  24. cookeatburn says

    I love babysitting… I think part of it is knowing that even if the kids are naughty, you get to leave them at some point instead of being stuck with them for 18 years ;).

    I was always more of a Jasmine girl than a little mermaid girl myself – I even had Jasmine PJs that were the same kind of design as her outfit with the puffy see-through arm and leg sleeves!

  25. spoonfulofsugarfree says

    Oh I love the little mermaid!! I used to watch it all the time! I think I still have the VCR….(nobody uses VCR’s anymore, though. Gee, that technology was sure surpassed quickly)

    And I actually LOVE babysitting! What can be better than being payed to play?!!!

  26. monicanelsonfitness says

    Great with children, but love having my doggies as the “kids” just a little bit more, lol for now anyways. 🙂 Love The Little Mermaid…Classic! I just started to read your blog! Love it Katie.

  27. BroccoliHut says

    I was never much of a babysitter either–I did a few jobs, but I always dreaded them a bit. I think it might be a function of being the youngest child; I’m not used to taking care of those younger than I.
    I much prefer pet-sitting–I’ve done far more of that over the years:)

  28. *Andrea* says

    OMG i used to feel guilty for saying i don’t like babysitting (my sister LOVES it and always jokes that I never was a babysitter like she was) because it has a weird stigma, no!? i love kids and babies and think children have such an amazing quality of playfulness, curiosity, etc. i always had bad luck with the kids i did babysit too (one kid’s parents owned Spooky World – a halloween amusement park and he would take me in his hiding places in the basement and try and scare me with costumes and all these mannequins of goblins and stuff)

    Henry’s so cute! Love that you wore the floaties… and totally rocked them 😉

    • Chocolate-Covered Katie says

      I felt (and feel) guilty for it too! But you’re right; it doesn’t mean we hate kids. I just feel awkward being in charge of someone else’s kids!
      And that halloween thing sounds COOL! (Albeit scary if you had to babysit there at night!)

  29. Lorin says

    I started babysitting this summer and it was for a 1 1/2 year old, so it was actually pretty easy money. Play with her for 2 hours, put her to sleep and watch t.v. till the mother came home. I enjoyed playing with her though. Do you do sit-ups or something because you have amazzing abs 🙂

  30. Meghan says

    Love the water wings…and that you unintentionally insulted the “big girl”

    I actually am the reverse of most people here. I love little kids and babies.When I worked at camp, I always requested the youngest campers (5-6 year olds) so cute and fun. But once the kids are about 4th grade, I have no clue what to do with them and really don’t do well with middle schoolers. I just feel like they are so mopey and awkward.

  31. todayslady says

    Love The Little Mermaid. Babysitting….. not so much. I used to babysit all the time when I was 12ish but what other job could a 12 year old do? I was ok at it…. the kids spent a lot of time watching TV and eating Kraft Dinner!

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