Bad Baby

Earlier this week
between rounds of painting
I went to see the
Best Friends recognition ceremony

It's a group for girls at our school
that is anti-drugs, alcohol, sex
and they talk about making positive choices
with relationships and their bodies

And they learn a dance
which they perform
creating costumes with
black tights and gold sequins
and with lights on a real stage
so there is a hint of magic
when they pull out the stops
to perform

So I dragged fellow teacher and friend
Ms. Kathleen along
We walked in as the girls were lining up
and they ran over to give us hugs

So did B.B.

Now B.B. is younger sister
to the twins in my class
I know a lot of cute kids
but this is one cute kid.

She's also a handful.

From well as I could tell
the twins were 'watching' her throughout
the day through their dress rehersals
and now six hours later
everyone was done with her

Go see Ms. Emily and Ms. Kathleen!
the adults said
and so we grabbed the hand of B.B.
and fellow first grader Mya, heading to the auditorium
After negotiating where to sit
I realized I had been caught completely unawares
and was unprepared for babysitting when the
I'm hungry
I'm thirsty
began.
I had no snacks stashed away
No crayons or coloring pages

Babysitting is like teaching
and being prepared is half the battle
It's mostly about prevention.

To change the subject
I asked B.B. about her nickname
What did it stand for?
Bad Baby she whined
"Oh, I guess we'll stop calling you that"
No. I like it.

And so we sat through dances
and endless essays
of all the reasons to not smoke
while shushing and taking
trips to the bathroom

but watching my girls
all lit up
and twirling across the stage
with B.B. dancing every move
at her seat

the always wanting to be older
the always wanting
to participate in
the magic