"Can you watch her for a second?" Half of my sister's face peeked out from the side of my phone.
"Yeah!" I laughed. And that's how FaceTime babysitting burst into my life.
Before you freak out, it was literally for about 5 minutes. Maybe 8 minutes. It was before this whole worldwide health situation we're currently in, but now I think it was a precursor to what most of us need right now: FACETIME BABYSITTING.
Parents everywhere are drowning right now and have no way of bringing in a grandparent or babysitter to give them even just a little break. Thank God for technology.
How does babysitting over a device work?
Let me explain.
My sister had just gotten home from the market when my girls and I FaceTimed her just to say hi. Just as she answered, her dog charged in from the garage with muddy paws running over the bags of groceries she'd started unloading into her kitchen.
"Crap!" she screamed, "Can you watch her for a second?"
She quickly handed her phone to her 4-year-old and I literally "babysat" my niece's every move while my sister dealt with the dog and mud-trampled groceries.
My niece's sweet tiny face filled up the frame on my screen and all I could hear was some kind of messy struggle happening in the background. Cue the signal to start distracting my neice.
'Take me to your room and show me all your toys!'
I requested that she show me her toys, and she complied — walking and giggling through her den, all the way down her hallway, straight to her dollhouse on the floor of her bedroom.
"Show me what you have in here!" I exclaimed. I'd never gotten such an up-close look at tiny LOL furniture and accessories in my life. My daughters cracked up too.
"Show me that doll right there!"
"What's her name?"
"Show me how she likes to sit in that chair!"
"Show me your stuffed animals!"
"What are their names?"
"Do you want to sing with me?"
We went on and on and on
We sang songs. My niece showed us her new shoes and where she keeps all her socks. (Riveting, I know.)
We did a funny face contest. We took turns snorting like pigs and barking like dogs. She was in her room by herself, with my sister's phone, and I was 250 miles away. After a few more minutes, my sister popped her head into the frame, saying, "Oh my gosh, thank you so much! You have no idea how much that helped me just now!"
Then we all said goodbye.
Why can't all of us start doing this FaceTime babysitting thing whenever we need a short break?
Because it totally worked
And there's no better time to make this a trend than when we're all stuck in a never-ending Groundhog Day. It's easy — just keep kids talking and showing and dancing and singing and playing while you watch and engage in any way that works via our screens. You could even each pick a day and time each week to rotate a story time with your friends, where one mom reads a book to all the kids and the rest get to just breathe. While this may sound hard enough to do with your own kids, trust me, it's different with someone else's.
Think about how all of our lives right now would feel instantly easier if we just jumped on this as a resourceful way to conquer our safer-at-home challenges or just to support each other through an "I just need a second right now" moment.
Using the restroom. Putting on makeup. Giving the baby a bath while her 5-year-old big sister wants attention. Jumping on a conference call. Finishing writing that email that you just can't seem to complete because you have a kid crying about how he wants to play Paw Patrol with someone and that someone is you. All of this could be possible if we utilize what's in front of us.
I mean, we have this technology. Why aren't we using it for our own peace of mind? We are in emergency mode right now. And, we need as much help as possible, even if that help comes through a screen.
So, who wants to FaceTime later?
