It was a hot day of our summer break after we got done with our exams, when I was sitting comfortably on the couch, watching television. The sun was so bright in the sky that seemed like a scorching ball of fire. The weather was so hot and humid that despite the air conditioner running, it felt like I was melting. But little did I know that this day would be made way worse by the arrival of an unexpected child.

On this scorching day, my mother made a plan to go out with a friend of hers, which initially seemed perfectly fine, as I was used to staying alone at home. But I sprang up from the couch when my mother informed me how her friend was dropping her child at our place till the two friends returned. I love children, their adorable smiles, little faces and hands and babysitting would be great if it was anyone but my mum’s friend’s daughter.

This baby was more than just an innocent face. She was a devil’s workshop. Every time she came to our house, she would barge in my room, and take out all the things from my dresser – by everything, I actually mean everything! She would mess up with my delicate jewellery, wearing some, breaking some and taking some home along with her. She would sit on my bed with her dirty shoes and take out all my books from my shelf and rip the pages apart. So letting her stay with me alone was out of question.

“No, I don’t want to babysit to Ella. In fact, I don’t even want her in the house,” I whined to my mother. But before long, Ella was sitting on the couch where I was sitting earlier, with a packet of biscuit in her hand.

She was a fair toddler with short curly hair tied in a ponytail. Her pink cheeks and rosy red lips visage on her face to make her look so innocent, but faces can fool. I turned on the television and put on Ella’s favourite cartoon, which she watched sitting in my lap like the queen of the house. Meanwhile, I scrolled through my Instagram and waited for her to move, but she didn’t budge an inch. I was already feeling tired and done with her.

Finally, her cartoon was over and she got off from my lap, after which my legs felt sore. Anyway, I got up and went to my room to read a book I had started, and Ella followed me. I then gave her a soft cushioned book of alphabets for her to read while I read mine.

As I was engrossed in my book, I didn’t realise that Ella, who was sitting beside me on the bed, was gone. When I did turn to check on her and didn’t see her, I jumped from the bed and looked around the room. As usual, I found her by my dresser. As my eyes shifted from her to the floor, I saw my brand new pearl necklace shattered there. I was devastated as this necklace was an expensive one, which I had only worn once.

Ella started to giggle. Before I could scold her, I noticed that she has used my red lipstick to paint on one of the drawer of my dresser. As I was surveying the damage, I suddenly heard a weird husky sound. I turned to find her choking on something.

Fear rushed down my spine and I started to panic. I rushed her to the washroom and tapped her back aggressively. If anything happened to her, I would be responsible, I thought to myself.

Finally, she vomited out the bead of my broken necklace stuck in her throat and I took a sigh of relief. I washed her face and we got out from my room. This event had drained my energy, so we went to the kitchen.

I offered Ella some water to hydrate her and took out a box of chocolates for myself, which she also wanted. So, being a good babysitter, I shared my chocolates with a heavy heart.

I was exhausted, but I had to entertain this baby, so we decided to colour in her colouring book. Soon she started to yawn and fell asleep on the dining table. I gently placed her on the couch and put a blanket on her, after which I started to read my book again.

I have no clue when I fell asleep beside her, but I awoke to the sound of my mum telling me to wake up. Ella too was sitting beside me, rubbing her tiny eyes. We did have a good nap together. When it was finally time for Ella to leave, she gave me a hug and waved goodbye.

What a tiring and rough day I had! I realised how hard it is to look after a child, hats off to all the mums out there!

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 13th, 2023