Nihal Arthanayake - When Betsy Came to Babysit CBeebies Bedtime Stories

Hello. I'm Nihal.

Have you ever had a baby-sitter?

My kids have,

Auntie Ellie and akki Helen.

Akki means older sister.

If you have, like my kids,

I hope you didn't try to play tricks on them.

Like possibly my kids do.

Ria and Josh do, in tonight's bedtime story.

It's called When Betsy Came To Babysit

and it's by Elizabeth Dale with pictures by Zoe Waring.

When Betsy came to babysit she said to Ria and Josh,

"I don't know anything about baby-sitting."

"Don't worry," said Ria,

"We will tell you exactly what we do when we have a baby-sitter.

"We always use Mummy's bubble bath to wash the cat.

"We get out all our toys and stay up really, really late.

"We go down our slide.

"And swing on our swing.

"We paint everywhere.

"And we make a cake for Mum and Dad to show them that we love them.

"We jump on our bouncy castle.

"We dress up.

"Then we make weird noises and scare ourselves silly.

"Last of all, we eat ice cream

"and tomato sauce before we go to sleep on the floor."

"What fun!" said Betsy.

"Now, shall I tell you what I will do?

"I will use up all your felt tips and colour in all your books.

"I will be far too busy eating your chocolates to read bedtime stories.

"Then I will be so full that no-one can sit on my lap for a cuddle."

Ria and Josh looked at Betsy.

Betsy looked at them.

"Let's do something new tonight," they all said together.

So, they did.

That story was called When Betsy Came To Babysit.

I think they made a very good decision.

It would have been a shame not to have a bedtime story and a cuddle.

But now, it's time for you to have a bedtime cuddle

with someone you love before you say goodnight.

Sleep well.

I'll see you soon.