Yes, it's been a long time, but I survived baby sitting D.J. and Dakota tonight. I'm not sure they came out of it quite as well as I did, in fact, but they're young. They'll bounce back.

Actually, it was fine. For the whole time except for the last five minutes, everyone got along well. Laughter reigned, and tears were banished. It was even better than I hoped it would be, because I've never been alone with both of them before. I'm a little surprised Tammy and David chose me for this task, knowing how out of practice (and out of shape) I am, but I'm glad it worked out.

Of course, my baby sitting technique is a little freeform, if you know what I mean. If they want to play in the bathroom sink, I let them do it until they start splashing. Once I get wet, it's over. And I let them climb all over me until they start jumping on my back. I'm surprised I have to tell them not to injure me, but hey. They're five and three and a half. Maybe they don't know that old people break easily.

D.J. just wanted to play with his dinosaurs. He was the alpha guy, and I was the little dude who said, "Ooh, you're so tall. Thanks for reaching the leaves for me to eat. I'm glad you're so strong that you can jump 33 feet." Why it was exactly 33 feet I'm not sure, but that's how high he could jump.

Dakota, on the other hand, doesn't pretend to jump. He does it, and it's always good to be there to catch him. It's not always possible, but there were no major incidents tonight. I figure if the only thing I do that makes him cry is turn off the water and put away his toothbrush that he's been using for half an hour, I've done a pretty decent job.

There was a little tiff just at the end, right before Tammy got home, that caused some hard feelings. No need to go into details. Let's just say that a toy was involved, and neither party in the dispute wanted to share it at exactly that moment. Dakota expressed his rage physically. D.J. had no trouble at all finding the words to tell me exactly what he was thinking (and it wasn't pretty).

But that was one episode in a pretty good night. Considering how out of practice I am, I think we did all right. And I don't think I've ever sat with two children who were that young (at the same time) before, even back in the day. My own nephews are five years apart - not that they weren't a handful themselves at one time. I miss those days, but I miss them a little less after tonight's adventure.

I almost had to bail on Tammy tonight. The Boss (and his girlfriend, who has recently been hired by the company as a "consultant") kept me running and panting until almost six o'clock, working on the material they're preparing to show the banker who wants to give us a loan to buy some property. At least, he wants to give us a loan now, before he's seen all this paperwork. We'll just have to see if his opinion changes when he knows us better.