A Very Lucky Girl

A twelve year old said these ominous words to me yesterday. We were playing a game that involved guessing movie titles based on clues and I was sucking at it. Why? Because they were all "the latest" Disney movies. I think the last Disney movie I saw before Frozen was rewatching Mulan. I'm not up to date on Brave or How to Train Your Dragon or any of the other hot commodities in the elementary school world. And so this twelve year old mocked my knowledge with laughter and a declaration of "you don't know these because they didn't exist back in your day !" Excuse me?  Repetez s'il vous plait? When did I become old enough to have "back in your day"'s thrown at me!?  The same twelve year old went on to talk about how one of his teachers at school is 24 (aka 2 years my senior) and married. And then asked when I was getting married. I told him boys are icky, present company excluded. And then I spent my Saturday night in a hot tub with ...

I began my babysitting career as a mother's helper to a darling little one year old named Caleb. That is, I took care of Caleb while his mom worked from home. It was probably the best way for me to learn how to care for such a little guy.  From there I moved on to looking after the kids of the couples in my parents' young marrieds Sunday School class. I cuddled with Aubrey and Georgia Mae, while the adults carved pumpkins or exchanged White Elephant Christmas gifts.  I eventually took my talents to the Brubaker family. I loved my regular nights with Emily and Grace. We played board games, watched movies, and ate frozen pizza. They lived only a few miles from me and the convenience made for an enticing first real babysitting job. Combined with the evenings with the McAteer kids, I was rich for an 8th grader.  We made cookies for the neighbors down the road when they first moved in. They turned out to be the McAteer family and they were wonderful. Kevin, Pamela, Kevin Jr...

God, I'm so bilingual. Nahhhht. Another week, another check. And I haven't had to work past 4 PM yet this summer. So far, so good. This week I: corrected grammar: "She jamped!" No, she JUMPED.  made breakfast: chocolate pancakes. They asked for extra chocolate chips AND syrup. AM I mean for refusing? sat stonily when they tried to tickle me overused the word/sound "shmeh" to the point where they have begun to mimic me avoided Sister's cuddles at all costs. She is always wanting to hang on me in the heat of the day. CHILD, IT'S FAR TOO HOT FOR THAT. Learned that Pluto is officially no longer a planet Learned a continent named Oceania exists was stumped when asked, "how many movies have you seen in your life?" Overall, a pretty uneventful week in the life of A Very Lucky Nanny. Except for when I impaled my shin on rocks by the creek after our picnic lunch on Wednesday.

dragonfly...? trash can diary key Do you remember the adventures of Brother and Sister (E and C) from last summer? (If you need a refresher, you can look back on the months of June and July from 2012 in the right side bar).  They're back. And I'm back. And we're already sunburned. I also add two of their friends (Mc and Mk) to the mix on Tuesdays and Wednesdays after swim practice.  They never cease to keep me laughing (at least inwardly) and I'll highlight the best of the week in a post every Friday. Quotable Quips: "Are we there yet?"-C. "Has the car stopped moving?" You may think I'm sassy for a nanny, but I like to think I'm real.  "How far away are we?"-C. "Everytime the tires move we get a little bit closer!"  When C was eating her lunch on Thursday (turkey and cheese on crackers), she asked, "was this cheese already sliced?" Yes, that was what was in your fridge. "Oh." She set do...

August 1st signaled the start of school for my young charges so Tuesday was my last day of work for the summer. Monday and Tuesday were as action packed as possible, sprinkled with neighborhood mama drama. Brother and Sister are participating in a miniature triathlon on Saturday morning so their mom encouraged me to include some training in our outdoor activities. I invited the three right-side neighbors to train and their mom and I held a trial triathlon on Tuesday morning, complete with a stopwatch. It was a nice way to blow off steam, especially considering that Monday was overwrought with emotion.  The right-side neighbors invited me and my kids to go bowling with them on Monday afternoon (since when did bowling become so expensive?! For two kids to bowl two games I spent 24 bucks!). Alas, the left-side neighbor girl was over at my house on Monday when we received the invitation, and I, being completely oblivious to any neighborhood tiffs, mistakenly told her she could tag al...

This was a glorious week filled with half days. I arrived after they had finished soccer camp around noon, Monday through Wednesday, and got to leave at 5 or 5:30 every afternoon. No complaints here...except for that one time she was late when Tyler was waiting for me at home. So inconsiderate! So...to the highlights! After ferrying them around all week the gas in my tank was a little low so we drove through a 7/11. I used a credit card to pay (a concept they have yet to grasp, I believe) which caused Brother to pipe up as I drove off with a full gas tank, "um Taylor, did we pay for the gas?" No, dearest, we are gas bandits! They were all out of the lunch staples of life at home (Kraft Mac&Cheese and hot dogs) so I had to get creative. I served tacos in the shape of a dragonfly/butterfly, using fruit for the eyes and tail, on Monday and whipped up a batch of homemade macaroni and cheese on Tuesday. The tacos went well..I suppose. Although, they asked why they were sha...

I'm more than halfway through the summer of learning that I probably don't want kids. I love being able to give these children back to their parents at the end of the day. It's my favorite part. Especially since this week was sass city in this household (I'm reluctant to say that I could be the cause of this...I'm pretty free with my sarcastic conversations). Regardless, it pissed me off.  We started off the week with a surprise visit from pest control. I was unsure if he was there for the vermin or the children (they seem to synonymous this week), but either way I had not been informed of his impending arrival. So when a strange looking man showed up on the front porch, I was wary. I felt bad for being so suspicious, but his opening words were, "So how's everything looking inside?" No mention of his occupation. Um, things are great sir, thanks...move along. He saw the terror-stricken look on my face and recognized his blunder. "Oh! I'm...

I have not been in the mood for immature shenanigans this week. I think lack of sleep is catching up with me and breeding irritability. Unfortunately, the kids are up and at 'em within minutes of my arrival at 7:45 AM every morning. I creep into the house and shut the front door as quickly as possible, removing my shoes, and whispering to talk to their mother, hoping to catch a few more childless seconds. Twice this week she assured me that they had stayed up late and would more than likely sleep in. Both times one or the other kid woke up within 3 minutes of being issued this statement.  On one of these mornings Brother quickly realized that I wasn't going to be engaging in any sort of activity before 9 AM (I cuddle up on their giant bean bag as soon as I arrive and definitely plan on investing in something of the sort when I move out of the dorms) and resigned himself to some Wii time. He tried to play a Hot Wheels racing game and the disc wouldn't read. He brought it ...

Week three is complete. Only 2 more weeks left until my entire week off. I'm a little bit excited about 7 whole days dedicated to just being 20. Because I've figured out that the trick to making nannying enjoyable for everyone is to act their age--to a point. If I put myself into a 9 year old mindset (the mean of their ages), then I don't mind playing play dough nearly as much.  On Monday I took the kids to Frontier City. This was my first time there. I suggest a motion to rename it Jank City. Every single ride creaked. The very first one was a Splash Mountain wannabe, where you rode in a rickety log flume around a riveting creek until plunging over a drop. I clutched the handle bars  until my knuckles turned white and gritted my teeth as the less-than-stable log made its agonizing ascent to the top of the drop. I used to love roller coasters! And I think I still do...I just have an aversion to the ones that aren't reassuringly, positively safe. I couldn't stop t...

These kids are so out of my league. I had enough material for an entire post just after Monday of this week. But I saved everything up for a mega post. And I plan to make it a weekly thing. This was the week of the soccer mom. I literally took Brother to soccer practice every morning and watched him from the bleachers with Sister. It is unreal how much more cautious you become with other children in the car. I asked my mom if she still feels like that when me and Oakes are in the car. She said no. I guess Oakes and I's value decreased as we got older... I kept both hands at ten and two. The radio at an acceptable decibel. And constantly checked all the mirrors. Monday. The kids greeted me with a "we missed you over the weekend!" when I arrived on Monday morning. It was adorable. But their constant chatter was not. I brought Advil for the rest of the week. We had our first casualty. It was my own. It's all fun and games until an 8 year old crash lands on your foo...

I started my new job on Friday. I'll be spending June and July with two precocious kids. We have big plans of tearing apart Frontier City, White Water Bay, and crafting til Hobby Lobby runs out of glue. This is my first experience with consistent babysitting. It's like a real job; 7:45 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday. But it's got a lovely real paycheck to go along with it. Which is awesome cuz Tyler's birthday is coming up and I have NO idea what he's getting yet... The kids are boy and girl, 8 and 10 years old. They are probably the most well-behaved children I've ever met. Not to mention, SMART! I met them for the first time at the end of Christmas break so that the parents could make sure I wasn't an axe murderer in disguise and the oldest (the boy) casually wove several SAT words into conversation on our way to the park. I stared in awe. They refer to each other as "brother" and "sister." As in, "sister, let's swim!"...

When I lived in North Carolina I had the privilege to babysit for this amazing all-American family. They have two gorgeous girls, Grace and Emily. It recently came to my attention via Facebook that Gracie is having trouble with some girls, at school I presume. I don't know the entire story, but I was 14 once. And I'm 19 now and the fairer sex has not really changed. Lindsay Lohan starred in the epically mind-numbingly hilarious movie, Mean Girls. Director Tina Fey managed to send an anti-bullying message even while leaving me gasping for air through my giggles. I quote it incessantly, "why are you so obsessed with me?!" Girls are mean. We honestly are. Our instinct is to put down the females around us in order to get a false sense of superiority. And since it's not true superiority, it is fleeting, thus the mean girls cycle is formed. We have an intense competitive nature to be the prettiest, smartest, best-all around. And when we feel that we fail at our goal...