“Can you get here in 10 minutes?” I heard someone say on my cell phone. I had just woken up because of the crying voices of the phone, and the first thing I heard when I answered it was someone requesting me to come over. “It’s me“, she said. I knew who it was, but her house was more than 25 miles away. “Why 10 minutes?” I asked, a question that required answering before I could ask “Why?” She said she had to go to the hospital in an emergency, and had no one to look after her kids all day. “Ok“, I replied, and thus my day began. I was told to pick up the kids from a nearby babysitter’s place as she had to leave right away and wanted to leave the kids with someone until I got to her house. I guess she wanted a free fake alternative to the real thing for her kids as soon as I got to her place.

I got ready while having a quick “Good morning” talk with Jerine. I got to the babysitter’s home as soon as I could. Many babysitters here charge by the hour, so even if you’re over by a minute, you’re going to pay for an extra hour. I got there a few minutes before the 1st hour was up, thinking I would save my friend some money so she wouldn’t have to pay for the 2nd hour. However, once I rang the doorbell and asked for the kids, the babysitter, very politely and happily, told me to wait while she got the kids for me. Oh boy. It took her a good 7-8 minutes to get the kids, and that meant 5-6 minutes after the 2nd hour. Thus, by making me wait, she had earned an additional hour of pay. The kids came happily, jumping on me as if they’d seen a penguin. The babysitter was smiling too, as she had earned an extra hour of pay for something that I would be doing now.

I spent around 14 hours today babysitting, nannying, caring, or whatever it’s called. Time for me to take care of myself now, theoretically. I wonder if I should start charging myself by the hour to take care of myself. I can pay myself with food and sleeping hours, and if I’m ever not able to pay, eat vegetables as a punishment. I can also waste a few minutes after every hour, and force myself to continue sleeping or doing something for the entire duration of the 2nd hour.

Sounds weird, eh? Yes, I hope it does. At least I’ll be getting paid by myself.