My First Time Babysitting

The year was 2010. I had just decided to go over to visit with my friend Laurence and his family for a little bit. 
As soon as I had crossed the threshold, Laurence pulled me to the side and he said, " Hey Rick, I need for you to watch the kids for a little bit while me and the Mrs. go in the back to play for a while. 
As his devoted friend, I took the honor of granting his request. 
The kids had just rented the hit movie, " Marley and Me." 
The movie was going great until it ended with the dog dying. 
It was at that moment that the painful memory of losing my favorite dog Tyler that I had begun to cry uncontrollably in front of the two young boys. 
I totally did not see that coming. 
The boys looked at me with a sense of shock that I would be so emotional in front of them, yet they did not say a word. 
Around 10 minutes later, Laurence and his wife had returned to the den.
Laurence says to the boys, " Hey, did you all have fun hanging out with Uncle Rick?" 
The youngest one replied, 
" Yeah, but he was crying over a dog though!" 
We all had a good laugh about the situation at my expense. 
To this day, I think that Marley and Me is not a good movie for kids with pets to watch. 
In fact, I think that it should be outlawed!  
The moral of this story is this: 
Always take the time to preview a movie before you let your children see it. 
Therefore, you don't run the risk of running into some unpleasant surprises in front of them.