auf die Kinder aufpassen

I endured a more strenuous task last week - I stayed with another family for two nights while there mother attended a seminar elsewhere in Germany.  Luckily, Philip and Johanna are often at the house playing with Max and Tom; we are all quite familiar with each other.  The first day was simple, Johanna joined us for a playdate and Philip joined us for dinner.  Once dinner was cleared, Nils dropped us off for the night.  It was quite simple to complete the evening and get both kids into bed.  The second day was a little more complicated, although the morning went fairly smooth.  Philip is old enough to make his way to school himself and Johanna slept nearly until Sabine and the boys arrived to drive us to Kindergarten.  The only difficulty was getting Johanna into her clothes.  She is not too keen on personal hygiene - changing diapers, washing hands, brushing teeth, changing clothes, etc.  After a few brief moments of screaming bloody murder, I was able to get her to calm down.  I took a taxi to Kindergarten in the afternoon as Sabine and the boys were 100 km away visiting Oma.  Once we arrived home, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining.  Johanna and I went to a playground around the corner before going into the swimming hall to watch the children swim (I had thought about taking her swimming but it is another thing she is not too keen on).  After an hour and a half of being away from home, we headed back.  Philip went off to handball and Johanna and I painted our nails.  She really enjoyed that and she was content with staying still while they dried.  I thought that part would be more challenging for a 3 year old.  I told her that even if she took a bath, the nailpolish would stay on her fingers.  She was excited and hopped right into the bath.  She even washed her hair.  When Philip arrived home, he commented on her hair and stared at me in disbelief when I told him that she took a bath.  Nailpolish was the trick, though I doubt it would work every time.  We had a simple dinner, noodle and sauce (ketchup for Johanna although she pronounces it chetkup and I had no idea was she was asking for).  We watched a movie and Johanna fell asleep an hour early which was probably from all the fresh air.  Philip and I finished the movie and he was so tired himself, that he went directly to bed.  The morning was the same the following day and after Sabine dropped them off at Kindergarten, I was back to my normal routine.