A blog about nannying. I am sure this has been done before, but I was inspired to start a blog after seeing "Julie and Julia". I am now in the midst of reading the book that the movie is based off of (let me just point out now, Julie is a much better cook and much more optimistic in the movie than she sounds like she is in real life) and I wanted to have "bleaders" of my own. I understand that this blog may not get any readers other than myself, and that's perfectly fine. I just feel as if this would be a good way for me to get things off my chest, especially since I seem to talk about the kids I babysit for like they're my own. I need a new outlet.
You might notice that the title of my blog is very similar to that of the title of the movie, "The Nanny Diaries". This is because I am not good at coming up with clever titles, whether it be for facebook photo albums or for new blogs, so here I am with this cheesy knock-off of a title. However, I think it's quite brilliant considering the life I am about to embark upon is reminiscent of the life of Annie Braddock, the title role in "The Nanny Diaries". The only difference is that instead of babysitting for a little American boy, I am babysitting for two Japanese girls...and instead of babysitting on the Upper EAST side, I am babysitting on the Upper WEST side.
It would not be fair to say that this is the "family from hell" as Wikipedia would state is true in the film. This is NOT the family from hell...far from it. But this experience has already tested my skills in patience, food consumption, and time management.
I feel as if I need to clarify between the terms "nanny" and "babysitter". To me, a nanny implies that you sleep at their house and have constant care over the child(ren). Again, to me, a babysitter has certain hours that they care for the child(ren), yet have a life of their own outside of the family. Now that that is out there, I am technically a babysitter. However, it seems more fitting to call myself a nanny, a) because it makes the title of my blog make more sense, and b) because I feel as if I am the girls' parent.
So as to keep the family's privacy, I will refer to the girls as M (8 years-old) and W (5 years-old). I can say, however, that W's middle name is Emma, which is already quite interesting for a Japanese name, but that has to be a sign. A sign of what sort, I'm not sure, but we share a name....did I mention I'm American and she's Japanese?
Today was technically my second day of "nannying" and went better than yesterday, I suppose. I need to give you the background so you have something to picture while reading about my ridiculous stories that I'm sure will ensue eventually.
Ok....so this family lives on 81st and Central Park West. Need I say more already? I am greeted by a doorman at the entrance who then has the "elevator operator" take me up to the 11th floor, where the elevator door opens and there is one door. Yes, they have the entire 11th floor as their apartment. The housekeeper greeted me at the door the first time I was there and led me into the living room where I sat on a creme-colored couch waiting for the mother to come greet me. Obviously, their large windows overlook Central Park West and the Museum of Natural History. The New York skyline by night is incredible, all lit up, complete with a view of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building (my personal favorite). I have this view from the girls' bedroom, which of course they are too young to appreciate. The 5 year-old's walk in closet is the size of 4 of my closets- my desired size for a closet when I own my own house. Where as mine would be full of dresses and shoes, hers is full of hairbands and boxes of blocks and legos. It's just not right.
Both of the girls have four poster canopy beds, the kind I dreamed of when I was a child. Even their humidifiers are sexy.
There is a bedroom specifically for the nanny (attached to the small room with the washer and dryer, naturally) which has a bathroom nicer than mine. It also has a mini fridge which is quite necessary since the stay-at-home nanny would need to keep a few bottles of wine in there to unwind after a long day. There are 2 kitchens, a pantry, a large dining room, an even larger living room, a library (!!), the girls' room, the nanny's room, and the master bedroom with THE MOST incredible bathtub/shower I've ever seen. They have a personal driver who picks them up to take them to and pick them up from tutoring or school or wherever. There is no subway for us...ohhhhh no. I have a specific wallet with money in it specifically for taxi fare. I am SO excited to get to take taxis everywhere without having to pay for them.
If these things are not enough to tell you that they have a lot of money, they have a lot of money. Which is why I find it odd that the mother has never offered to feed me. It's like she can't afford to give me a snack, or offer me dinner....or it's just rude. For their snacks, they eat a chocolate croissant and cheese, or a chocolate eclair (real healthy snacks) and I sit there with my mouth salivating wanting a bite of that chocolate more than anything. THEN, after having had no snack, dinner time rolls around and I get so excited thinking that I'm going to be having a really good Japanese dinner, and there are only 2 plates on the table. While they were enjoying their tuna sushi and crab cakes, I was cleaning up their legos, acting as if I didn't want to eat them all out of starvation. I'm going to have to ask if I can bring my own snack if she's not going to feed me. I can't go 6 hours without eating. Maybe this is why it is 2:26am and I'm scarfing down burnt toast with pumpkin butter because my stomach has shriveled up.
I hate to end this so abruptly but my eyelids are drooping, just like they were while I was reading to W. in bed. I will continue my nanny adventures tomorrow....and believe me, there will be some. Tomorrow is the first day I am with the girls alone (phew!). I will report back tomorrow if I manage to not get lost picking up W. from school and taking her to ballet class.
Sleep finally calls.
