For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for February 20, 2018

“Nobody said anything about a baby,” Michael continues.

Mike, you have been a neighbor of the family next door for as long as you’ve lived at your house. You know they have three children and one is a baby. What? You thought the parents would take the baby for your convenience?

That’s kind of the idea, Mike, when parents go out. They find someone reliable (?!) to stay with their kids, and they go out without the kids…

Since they live next door he can just call Elly over to change the baby if it needs changing. But he better not. Just show him how to change the diaper. I hope they’re planning to pay him.

It’s not fair to expect Mike to watch a baby. Babies are a lot of extra work. If Mike isn’t completely confident that he can keep the baby out of harm’s way, he has no business trying to take care of it.

It’s one thing for Mike to play with the guys with the baby around, as well, if the mom is home but to expect Mike to know how to handle the baby with no adult at home is ridiculous. Both of the parents show know that. If something goes wrong, the problem will be beyond Mike’s knowhow to resolve. I’m with Mike. Am really surprised Ellie isn’t unserstanding his viewpoint.

I really think Elly is going to have to help him with this one. At least she’s right next door, but she needs to be proactive and constantly go check on them.

I mean…why would they take the baby out to dinner?

My very first babysitting job, at the age of twelve, was with a stubborn, naughty 4 year old boy, and a 14-month-old baby.

My mother told her friend I would do it, without even asking me!

I’d never held a baby, much less diapered one.

I’d been made responsible for my own sister and brother when my parents went out…. but they were only 2 and 3 years younger than me.

I was terrified!

And you can bet I called my mother. A lot.

She talked me through getting the 4 year old to bed, and through changing a diaper,

and walking a crying baby in my arms to calm him down.

The parents had also left me a list of chores to do!

Folding laundry, doing dishes…. they wanted me to mop the kitchen floor but my Mom said I didn’t have to.

They came home an hour after my bedtime…. two hours after they’d promised.

It was a block or two away, on a military base, in different times…. both sets of parents figured I could just walk home alone in the dark.

I later found out other kids got 50 cents an hour but my Dad had told them to pay me half that.

But you know, I came home with $1.25…

I felt so rich I kept babysitting for them, maybe a couple of times a month, till we moved, a year later.

To my parents credit, they did tell them I was NOT there to do housework,

and that if I was there at dinner time they should leave me some food… which they did….

and that they had to be back before my bedtime …. which they usually almost were.

Later I marveled…. actually, I was appalled, that someone would hire an inexperienced 12 year old to take care of their baby.

I swore I’d never do that, and I’m sure I wouldn’t have, if I’d had kids.

But Anne says she’s desperate….

it doesn’t say they’re just going out to dinner.

Maybe it’s an emergency….. but from her past behavior, probably not.

Mike will be entering unknown territory like Chuck Yeager if he can break the “poop barrier”

Come on….you KNOW where this one is heading.