Taking Care of my Nephew
This weekend, I visited my sister’s family.
She was planning to go to a musical event for kids with her son on Sunday, but another plan came up to her. Her husband has been had a cold for a while and he was not able to go instead of her.
Then I was asked to bring the boy to the event. That’s why I went to their house on Saturday to spend all day Sunday with my nephew.
The boy is 10 years old. He is smart and friendly to everyone. I have always felt that his parents were too hard to him especially when I heard his father chastise him with harsh words.
After being with the boy from 8 am to 5 pm, I realized how tough to take care of the boy. Since he is already 10 years old, I didn’t have to take care of him in a meaning. However he often annoyed me and it was stressful.
He said he wanted to go to another event as well. I checked and said it was impossible because of the time schedule but he wasn’t convinced for a while.
He wanted to stop by a café to eat cakes and kept insisting.
He wanted to go to the park on the way home. I said, “OK, but only 5 minutes.” He wouldn’t move even after 15 minutes until I pretended to leave him.
Of course I did enjoy the event with him and he was not always a naughty boy, but I was exhausted at night when I finally got home.
Now I can imagine how hard to raise a boy like him though he has lots of good points.
She was planning to go to a musical event for kids with her son on Sunday, but another plan came up to her. Her husband has been had a cold for a while and he was not able to go instead of her.
Then I was asked to bring the boy to the event. That’s why I went to their house on Saturday to spend all day Sunday with my nephew.
The boy is 10 years old. He is smart and friendly to everyone. I have always felt that his parents were too hard to him especially when I heard his father chastise him with harsh words.
After being with the boy from 8 am to 5 pm, I realized how tough to take care of the boy. Since he is already 10 years old, I didn’t have to take care of him in a meaning. However he often annoyed me and it was stressful.
He said he wanted to go to another event as well. I checked and said it was impossible because of the time schedule but he wasn’t convinced for a while.
He wanted to stop by a café to eat cakes and kept insisting.
He wanted to go to the park on the way home. I said, “OK, but only 5 minutes.” He wouldn’t move even after 15 minutes until I pretended to leave him.
Of course I did enjoy the event with him and he was not always a naughty boy, but I was exhausted at night when I finally got home.
Now I can imagine how hard to raise a boy like him though he has lots of good points.
Taking Care Of My Nephew
Her husband has been catched a cold for a while and he was not able to go instead of her.
Then I was asked to bring the boy to the event.
I feel so sad when hearing that his father often chastises him with harsh words. It's great to have a smart and friendly 10-years nephew, isn't it? :)
She was planning to go to a musical event for kids with her son on Sunday, but something came up.
"but another plan came up to her." in English we might say "something (else) came up."
Her husband has been had a cold for a while and so he was not able to go either. instead of her.
You could say "Her husband had had a cold for a while". It doesn't look nice but it's correct.
"had had" means he had a cold at the time but he doesn't have it any more (when you wrote this).
"has had" means he had a cold at the time and he still has it.
That’s why I went to their house on Saturday: to spend all day Sunday with my nephew.
I have always felt that his parents were too hard on him, especially when I heard his father chastise him with harsh words.
After being with the boy from 8 am to 5 pm, I realized how tough it was to take care of him. the boy.
Since he is already 10 years old, I didn’t have to take care of him in a meaning.
I know what you mean but I'm not sure how to correct it without changing the sentence. I would say "Since he is 10 years old, he can look after himself somewhat."
However, he often annoyed me and it was stressful.
He wanted to stop by a café to eat cakes and kept insisting on it.
...kept insisting on (doing) it.
I said, “OK, but only for 5 minutes.” He wouldn’t move even after 15 minutes until I pretended to leave him.
Of course, I did enjoy the event with him and he was not always a naughty boy, but I was exhausted at night when I finally got home.
Now I can imagine how hard it would be to raise a boy like him. He does have lots of good points though.
I think it would be very exhausting to have kids sometimes.
You helped me a lot.
I should be careful and put comma properly. ;)
She was planning to go to a musical event for kids with her son on Sunday, but she had to change her plans.
Sparks-san's "something came up" is a good way of using your verb phrase "came up". I tried to stay closer to the literal meaning of what I think you had in mind.
Her husband has been under the weather for a while, so he was not able to go in her place.
"Under the weather" is an idiom for feeling sick.
"... in her place" is another alternative for "... instead of her"
Then I was asked to bring the boy to the event. [Alternative: "Then they asked me to bring..."]
Your sentence is correct. Leaving out "was", as Yuri-san suggested, is wrong. The passive voice is used less in English than in Japanese, though, so "they asked me" is more natural than "I was asked (by them)".
I have always felt that his parents are too hard on him, especially when I hear his father chastise/chastising him with harsh words.
I think the present tense ("are" and "hear") is better in this sentence than the past tense. The present tense is often used in English for repeated or habitual actions in the past, especially when you expect them to continue in the future. You're not talking about one or several incidents here, but a general pattern of behavior. The present tense is the best tense for expressing this.
After being with the boy from 8 am to 5 pm, though, I realized how tough/difficult it is to take care of him. [Alternatives: "... how difficult he is to take care of." "... how difficult he is to supervise."]
Again, I prefer "is" to Sparks-san's "was" because you are talking about an issue (his being hard to take care of) which can be expected to continue in the future. Both are correct.
Since he is already 10 years old, there is a sense in which I don't have to take care of him. [Alternative: "... old, one doesn't have to take care of him the way one would have to with a small child."]
Of course I did enjoy the event with him and he was not naughty the whole time, but I was exhausted that night when I finally got home.
Now I can imagine how hard it is to raise him, even though he has lots of good points.
Your explanations about tense are very helpful.
Then I was So, they asked me to bring the boy to the event.
Alternative.
He wanted to stop by a café to eat/for some cake and kept insisting on it.
"Cakes" here sounds a little odd to me since it sounds like he wanted to eat entire cakes. If these are little pastries, you could say something like "snack cakes" to specify that they are smaller than a normal cake, or you could say something like "pastries" instead.
My issue with the word "cakes" here might be exclusive to American English, though, I'm not sure. ^^;
Ha Ha. You have similar experiences and you can see how I felt.
Good to know.