Little Minds and Bodies

I consider myself an optimistic person. Not a saint by any stretch of the imagination, but I truly believe that if you choose to see the brighter side of life that good things will come your way. This trait definitely helps when you're living in one of the most expensive cities in the world, earning less than your rent from your day job and trying to squeeze in two part-time jobs on the side. Because that really could be enough to get a person down. Instead, I like to blog about it -so that others may derive some enjoyment from my sad existence.

So lets talk about my last couple of weekends, shall we? They have included babysitting, babysitting and more babysitting (Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and all-day Sundays). While others were out at the pub or sharing a meal with friends, I've been playing dress-ups with eight-year-olds, watching Nickelodeon, and on the rare occasion (if I can help it), chasing little boys around small courtyards in an attempt to catch-them-if-I-can. I was coaxed into the latter activity by an eleven-year-old boy who suggested that it would be a good form of exercise and further asserted, "No girl wants to be fat." Ahhhh, thanks. And I thought I was looking good.

The Sunday jobs, while far more exhausting than the average couch-fest (three kids: B11, B8 and G5), have given me the opportunity to see two of the latest kid's-flicks. I do love a good Disney film. The other weekend was Ratatouille - the one about the rat, Remy, with the great sense of smell, who makes it big in a Paris restaurant with the help of the hapless but well-meaning Linguini, a young man destined to meet the girl and take over the restaurant! Mixed with some token bad-guys and a few kitchen capers... It's simple, yet so entertaining.

Yesterday's theatre experience, however, left me feeling very old. Warner Bros latest movie, Nancy Drew (introducing to the big screen Emma Roberts, niece of Aunt Julia) in the title role, is definitely one for the whole family - sneaky sleuthing with good morals, pink cupcakes and a dash of crime where the criminals are suitably dense to ensure Nancy teaches them their lessons and takes them willingly to the court house. There's even a love interest for Nancy... the only problem (for me) is that Nancy looks barely thirteen and her boyfriend, Ned, even younger. And yet the film has them driving! Not only driving, Nancy has her own car - a blue vintage Roadster. And Ned even drives it across country from Long Island to Los Angeles. Ummm, he looks like the little boy I told to brush his teeth and head off to bed last Friday at 8pm.

I was struck with the realisation that when I was fifteen I thought I was so old, so mature and ready to take on the world. Now I cringe. Oh my golly, did I really look like Nancy? Did my first boyfriend resemble the bare-faced Ned? Jeepers creepers... say it isn't so!