Out of sheer curiosity, do they call babysitting "child-minding" in Britain or is that just your word for it?

No, we use "babysitting" too. I went with "child-minding" in this particular instance simply because Nakisha isn't a baby.

Do I gather that you don't use "child-minding" and "child-minder" in American English?

I'm not aware of "child-minding" and "child-minder" as commonly used terms here in the States, though I don't have children so I could be wrong. We use babysitting as the catch-all term.

She wasn't as articulate as I'm making her sound- her mind moves so fast she's onto the next thought before she's finished expressing the one she just started- but the ideas are all present and correct.

Yay!

It's a truism that the kids are our future- but I'm feeling it these days- more than I ever did before.

Kids come up with the awesomest things. :-)

And it's just wonderful when they do.