Details for sitters

Kid-specific details

Josh

Ironically, Josh is actually the easiest of the three. At home, he normally keeps to himself and is almost self-sufficient; the only things he needs (from day to day) that a normal 13-year-old wouldn't need are (1) being cleaned up after a number-two in the toilet (relatively easy; he's very cooperative, and we keep a supply of surgical gloves on hand – 2nd drawer from the right in the kitchen), and (2) food and drink preparation.

Sometimes Josh will get agitated, and it may be difficult to figure out what he needs; if you suggest food, he may run away to indicate you've guessed right... or you may just have to try a few things and see what solves the problem. Sometimes he seems to get headaches (holds face/forehead, face looks flushed/droopy), and a little neck-massage seems to calm him down.

Drinks

Josh's main drink is orange juice, shaken (not stirred) and diluted approximately 50-50 with filtered water from the fridge. (If it is too diluted, he will either ignore it or pour it out in the sink.) He also will sometimes take water from the blue spray-bottle. When going on outings (visiting other houses, going to the park, etc.), he drinks Sprite-like drinks (usually "Mist") which are kept in the basement; he only likes them warm. We've been trying to wean him off these and onto using the blue spray-bottle of water, and it's probably ok at this point to only bring the sprayer unless the outing is longer than 1-2 hours and the sprayer might not be enough.

Snacks

Josh generally snacks on veggie-chips, which are kept above the chest freezer in the laundry room. The bag needs to be opened just a little and he can open it the rest of the way; these can be left out on the dining table for him to munch on in passing, and he will throw away the bag when it is empty.

Meals

His fall-back diet, for meals when we're not preparing something he likes, is hot dogs:

• take frozen pack from the chest freezer (laundry room); microwave at 10% (careful not to accidentally select 70%!) for 8:88 (a.k.a. 9 minutes 28 seconds)
• open the pack, take out half of the dogs (usually 5), put on a plate and microwave on Defrost for 2:22 (usually I rinse off the ice first; they cook more evenly that way, and you don't end up with as much loose water)
• wait until Josh finishes, and repeat for the other half of the pack (he has been known to eat too fast and end up coughing up hot-dog chunks on the floor if given too many at once; 5-6 at a time seems to be okay)

Benjamin

There is a list of foods Benjamin likes, posted on the kitchen wall just outside the office; he often goes to it for inspiration. Some of the items on the list will need grownup preparation, and feel free to call to ask where ingredients or cooking apparati can be found, if you can't find something. We've made sure to stock up on his current favorite, frozen Lasagna, which he can prepare for himself (although sometimes he decides he wants help); he just needs supervision to make sure that any unfinished portions get saved for later, and that messes don't accumulate on the table.

Zander

Zander is pretty self-sufficient as long as there are frozen foods, bread, or waffles.

General stuff

Meals

There's Quinoa and spaghetti; B & Z both like spaghetti, B and J like Quinoa (not sure about Zander)... B & Z both like frozen pizza (Josh usually does, I thought, but turned his nose up at it the other day), though the one left in the freezer isn't the toppings they like...

Evening Schedule

Sometime before dark (Fri. and Sat.), check outside the front door to see if any packages have arrived. The UPS and FedEx people have lately been very stealthy when they leave stuff, and we occasionally don't discover packages until the next day...

Supper is sometime between 6 and 7. 8:00 is bedtime. Benjamin usually asks for a cup of water after we're done reading, and we never remember to pre-emptively bring one with us when we go up for reading; maybe your memory will work better than that ;-).

We read until 8:30, generally one chapter (or 15 minutes, whichever comes first) from each from their current book, winding up at 8:30 or a little after on non-school nights.