REALLY???

This morning I decided to take Evie and Suzanne (now 3 months) to the pool (ie. the parental summer social scene). And by "decided" I mean I was "guilted" into it by their mother. She has this way of making me feel like I should do something because she thinks it should be done. Well, that's another blog entirely. This one is dedicated to the fact that the neighbor Heather seems to think I am incapable of remembering my charges. 

Allow me to explain. 

One time Evie was playing out in the backyard, er, alley. No yards in the city. Just concrete. Heather was out as well watching her three children (although I am reminded of how she mysteriously disappears for a few minutes every so often, leaving me alone with all her kids and my own). When she walks outside she will inevitably panic and ask me, 

"Where's Suzanne???"

This usually causes me to freak out for .2 seconds as I try to remember, where in fact Suzanne is. Usually I have her strapped into the stroller, bouncy seat, or car seat nicely displayed in the shade so she is out of the way, but visible. 

So, today when we were at the pool she once again started up some general conversation. She interrupted her own dialogue with, "WHERE'S SUZANNE???" 

Um, over here under the umbrella.

Now I am unsure of the reason why she seems to need to ask me this EVERY time. And I am also unsure as to why it bothers me so.

There are several reasons for this. Possibly, she herself always freaks out when she realizes one of her children is missing, running into the street after a ball, climbing the very TALL fence, or hanging out of the open third story window (all of which I have seen with my own eyes). Possibly, it's because she believes I am incompetent at my job. It's hard to be sure.