Too old to baby sit?

For these past seven days Evelyne and I were on duty, 24/7 to watch Finn, our lovely one year old grandson. The young man – who doesn’t walk yet – is very much active, quite smart and already knows his way with adults. His job is to explore a brand new world and test anyone he comes across. His main asset is his charm and he intuitively knows that the right smile at the right time gets him special points that he’ll be able to redeem down the road for special comfort when smile is low and crankiness is up. I’ve just laid the general working principle; to handle that job well however requires energy, and lots of it. Energy still is available to folks age 60 and over, but it comes in shorter doses. During my working live, I’ve never quite believed people who claimed they worked 16 hour days “all the time.” A solid 12 hour day already pooped me. Now, 6 hours have the exact same effect. Back to the question about age and baby sitting, the answer becomes clearer. No, we’re never too old to handle that delightful job, but the older we get, the shorter the assignment, which confirms the adage that precious things always come in tiny packages or wonderful moments should be dispensed in small increments!