Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Apology
To those (2) of you that actually read this blog, I apologize for my lack in posting. I haven't had a single night to update since Monday. I promise this weekend I will get back on track!!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Never again....
Remember that time I ended my last post with "next week is going to be fun"? I think I spoke too soon.
Today was super crazy and rough. I didn't like it one bit. It started off at 1:05pm when I checked my phone in the locker room post work out and had 2 voicemails from Mercy. She was freaking out about getting in touch with me because she had to pick up W from school early because she threw up at school twice and she needed me to call her tutor to tell her W wouldn't be coming in today. I somehow knew the last name of her tutor and I looked her up on my blackberry and left her a voicemail. I assured her I would pick up M from school since I was in the neighborhood thinking I would be getting W in an hour, and I said I would take her to her tutor's. This all happened. It was nice because instead of needing to be at school at 2, I didn't need to be there until 3. I spent an hour in the Barnes and Noble cafe across the street drinking a skinny cinnamon dolce latte and reading my book.
This was the end of the relaxation.
I picked up M and took her to her tutor's, no problems. We get home and W is sleeping on the couch in the library, poor little thing. M was being sweet and made a card for her because she felt bad she was sick. Mercy was asking me if I knew anything about what to do for her stomach. She apparently threw up in the hall at their house too. She couldn't keep anything down. I told Mercy she should sip ginger ale and eat saltine crackers. Mercy left to go get these things and I sat in a chair next to W making sure she didn't get sick again. M was really asking for attention and I felt bad I couldn't give it to her but I needed to be by W and M was being too loud.
W woke up not too long after and looked so sick. I felt so bad for her. She looked feverish and hot. Her body was so limp and she looked so sad in the eyes. She could hardy move her head and she was barely speaking. I was really concerned. We took her temperature and she had a fever of 101.5. I called her doctor to ask what I should do and he said I needed to take her to the ER immediately. I thought that was a bit harsh but I guess when children have fevers they escalate more quickly and it can be really dangerous if it keeps rising. Mercy is freaking out and I'm trying to keep her calm and telling her she's going to be fine, we just need to call her parents to get the insurance information. They left me with no insurance cards or information but I didn't even think I would need them. Their mom is in Japan and her dad is in Florida and it was impossible to reach either of them. I tried all 4 of the numbers I was given for the two of them and they all went straight to voicemail. One of them was a Japanese number and I needed M to listen to the voicemail and translate for me. I left them 4 voicemails asking me to call me back as soon as possible because I needed this information before I could take her to the ER.
It was so sad seeing W cry because she didn't want to go to the ER and she wanted Mercy to take her. Mercy wanted me to take her and for her to stay hone with M. Mercy was legitimately freaking out. I was keeping very calm throughout this whole thing and had a clear head about it all but Mercy was making me nervous. Mr. U called back shortly after and said he didn't want me to take her to the ER yet. He told me to give her lots of gatorade and put a Japanese cold patch on her forehead. He said to check back in with him in half an hour to see if the fever went down. In the meantime, her fever was rising and I was getting more nervous about keeping her at home. I got all the information for the ER and was prepared to just take her but I couldn't go against the dad's wishes.
I gave W a little bit of gatorade and some children's motrin to try to bring the fever down.
Then the mom called and said she called the doctor's and that they were expecting us to come in. I got W up and not more than 2 minutes later she threw up all over the floor. I felt so bad for her. She looked pathetic and weak. I thought for sure she had the flu. All the while, M is asking what she should do about her homework and her bath and her dinner and I had to tell her tonight was different and we couldn't go by our normal routine. I told M to just read in her bedroom. I was trying not to ignore her but this was not about her. I was worried about W and Mercy was just panicking.
W and I got in a cab and went to the doctor's office. It was pretty empty yet we waited for what felt like an eternity. She layed down against my body and I could feel the heat radiating off of her. Her neck was so sweaty and I was trying to keep her comfortable and happy. There's something heart-wrenching about a child in pain and not being able to help them. I just wanted to wrap her up in my arms and heal her.
When we got into the office they took her temperature and it had gone up to 102. Shit. Then the doctor gave her a liquid medicine to stop the vomiting and she kept that down.
Then she poured a little bit of coke into a dixie cup and we waited for the bubbles to go away. I was instructed to give her 1 CC of the coke every 30 seconds out of one of those injection thingies. We literally counted 30 seconds every time and I could see her cheering up with every sip of coke. She was so happy to be getting coke and I don't know if it was mental or not but she already looked so much better. Her energy came back and she did a total turn around. She was back to her normal self, going through my purse to find things to play with.
All the while, I was getting e-mails from the mom with her insurance information and asking me to call her with all updates. Mind you, this is all from her Japanese number and I'm not about to call that number from my cell phone. I was e-mailing her on my blackberry and calling the dad to give him the updates and calling Mercy to let her know she was OK so she could stop worrying. All day and night I was making and returning calls to and from her parents with updates. I told her mom I would stay at their house tonight which made Mercy very happy. The doctor said it's not the flu which I was really surprised about. We left the doctor's at 7:30 which is W's bedtime and we went to the pharmacy around the corner to get coke at the doctor's orders and infant tylenol just in case her fever did go back up.
She gave us quite a scare but then she was OK. I ate dinner at their house which Mercy left out for me because she knew I would be starving. Sweet, sweet woman. Then I tucked the girls in and went home to get my stuff, only to come back.
So here I am, in my pj's on a large blow-up air mattress in their library. This feel so strange. I never thought I would find myself in this position.
I have to pat myself on the back and say I think I did a pretty good job of acting like her mother today when I'm only the nanny. It was a good glimpse into the future of parenthood. It was scary but thank goodness she's OK.
M is excited to see me in my pj's. It's like one big slumber party.
Today was super crazy and rough. I didn't like it one bit. It started off at 1:05pm when I checked my phone in the locker room post work out and had 2 voicemails from Mercy. She was freaking out about getting in touch with me because she had to pick up W from school early because she threw up at school twice and she needed me to call her tutor to tell her W wouldn't be coming in today. I somehow knew the last name of her tutor and I looked her up on my blackberry and left her a voicemail. I assured her I would pick up M from school since I was in the neighborhood thinking I would be getting W in an hour, and I said I would take her to her tutor's. This all happened. It was nice because instead of needing to be at school at 2, I didn't need to be there until 3. I spent an hour in the Barnes and Noble cafe across the street drinking a skinny cinnamon dolce latte and reading my book.
This was the end of the relaxation.
I picked up M and took her to her tutor's, no problems. We get home and W is sleeping on the couch in the library, poor little thing. M was being sweet and made a card for her because she felt bad she was sick. Mercy was asking me if I knew anything about what to do for her stomach. She apparently threw up in the hall at their house too. She couldn't keep anything down. I told Mercy she should sip ginger ale and eat saltine crackers. Mercy left to go get these things and I sat in a chair next to W making sure she didn't get sick again. M was really asking for attention and I felt bad I couldn't give it to her but I needed to be by W and M was being too loud.
W woke up not too long after and looked so sick. I felt so bad for her. She looked feverish and hot. Her body was so limp and she looked so sad in the eyes. She could hardy move her head and she was barely speaking. I was really concerned. We took her temperature and she had a fever of 101.5. I called her doctor to ask what I should do and he said I needed to take her to the ER immediately. I thought that was a bit harsh but I guess when children have fevers they escalate more quickly and it can be really dangerous if it keeps rising. Mercy is freaking out and I'm trying to keep her calm and telling her she's going to be fine, we just need to call her parents to get the insurance information. They left me with no insurance cards or information but I didn't even think I would need them. Their mom is in Japan and her dad is in Florida and it was impossible to reach either of them. I tried all 4 of the numbers I was given for the two of them and they all went straight to voicemail. One of them was a Japanese number and I needed M to listen to the voicemail and translate for me. I left them 4 voicemails asking me to call me back as soon as possible because I needed this information before I could take her to the ER.
It was so sad seeing W cry because she didn't want to go to the ER and she wanted Mercy to take her. Mercy wanted me to take her and for her to stay hone with M. Mercy was legitimately freaking out. I was keeping very calm throughout this whole thing and had a clear head about it all but Mercy was making me nervous. Mr. U called back shortly after and said he didn't want me to take her to the ER yet. He told me to give her lots of gatorade and put a Japanese cold patch on her forehead. He said to check back in with him in half an hour to see if the fever went down. In the meantime, her fever was rising and I was getting more nervous about keeping her at home. I got all the information for the ER and was prepared to just take her but I couldn't go against the dad's wishes.
I gave W a little bit of gatorade and some children's motrin to try to bring the fever down.
Then the mom called and said she called the doctor's and that they were expecting us to come in. I got W up and not more than 2 minutes later she threw up all over the floor. I felt so bad for her. She looked pathetic and weak. I thought for sure she had the flu. All the while, M is asking what she should do about her homework and her bath and her dinner and I had to tell her tonight was different and we couldn't go by our normal routine. I told M to just read in her bedroom. I was trying not to ignore her but this was not about her. I was worried about W and Mercy was just panicking.
W and I got in a cab and went to the doctor's office. It was pretty empty yet we waited for what felt like an eternity. She layed down against my body and I could feel the heat radiating off of her. Her neck was so sweaty and I was trying to keep her comfortable and happy. There's something heart-wrenching about a child in pain and not being able to help them. I just wanted to wrap her up in my arms and heal her.
When we got into the office they took her temperature and it had gone up to 102. Shit. Then the doctor gave her a liquid medicine to stop the vomiting and she kept that down.
Then she poured a little bit of coke into a dixie cup and we waited for the bubbles to go away. I was instructed to give her 1 CC of the coke every 30 seconds out of one of those injection thingies. We literally counted 30 seconds every time and I could see her cheering up with every sip of coke. She was so happy to be getting coke and I don't know if it was mental or not but she already looked so much better. Her energy came back and she did a total turn around. She was back to her normal self, going through my purse to find things to play with.
All the while, I was getting e-mails from the mom with her insurance information and asking me to call her with all updates. Mind you, this is all from her Japanese number and I'm not about to call that number from my cell phone. I was e-mailing her on my blackberry and calling the dad to give him the updates and calling Mercy to let her know she was OK so she could stop worrying. All day and night I was making and returning calls to and from her parents with updates. I told her mom I would stay at their house tonight which made Mercy very happy. The doctor said it's not the flu which I was really surprised about. We left the doctor's at 7:30 which is W's bedtime and we went to the pharmacy around the corner to get coke at the doctor's orders and infant tylenol just in case her fever did go back up.
She gave us quite a scare but then she was OK. I ate dinner at their house which Mercy left out for me because she knew I would be starving. Sweet, sweet woman. Then I tucked the girls in and went home to get my stuff, only to come back.
So here I am, in my pj's on a large blow-up air mattress in their library. This feel so strange. I never thought I would find myself in this position.
I have to pat myself on the back and say I think I did a pretty good job of acting like her mother today when I'm only the nanny. It was a good glimpse into the future of parenthood. It was scary but thank goodness she's OK.
M is excited to see me in my pj's. It's like one big slumber party.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Emmy
I don't think I've ever mentioned that the girls both call me Emmy. M asked me if she could call me that the very first day and I had no objections. I think it's pretty cute, actually. No one else calls me that so it's my Nanny name!
Fridays are short days because they leave for their weekend home at 6:30. I can't say I mind this early departure.
I met another nanny today at the school. On Fridays for some reason, they get picked up at their classroom instead of in the lobby where I normally get her. This was my first Friday doing this so I didn't remember how to get to the classroom. Luckily, there was a girl signing in behind me who said she was going there too and would lead the way. She's an actress as well and I wanted to ask her how she was balancing nannying and acting but I didn't get a chance. She was very nice though and I'm sure I'll run into her again. Probably next week.
W was so cute showing me around her hallway and showing me the artwork she did. I think she was self-conscious about her artwork because she would show me a piece of art that she did and then she would see one that was better than hers and say, "oh wait, this is mine", even though I could see the initials on it and knew it wasn't hers.
I'll bet you can take a guess as to where we went after school. Again, W held my hand the whole way there and walked backwards the entire way. I had a very protective moment of W in 7-11 today. When we were picking out her snack, a very rambunctious girl in an ugly fluffy, pink coat came marching up to W and asked if she wanted to have a play date. She was chomping down on a pastry and was getting crumbs all over herself. W did not seem excited right off the bat. Then the mom came over. I had seen this mom in the hallways every day to pick up W. She was the one mother who always seemed a little more frantic and badly dressed. She has stringy, bleached hair and a smoker's skin. She has bad taste in coats, like her daughter, and has a dalmation print scraggly faux-fur coat. So the mom comes over and introduces herself to me and says she's (insert name here)'s mom. I recognized this name right away as the name that W said was the class bully. I was like ooooh, noooo. The bully wants to have a play date with W....absolutely not. Bully's mom asked W if she would like to come over next week for a play date and W shook her head. I could have hugged her right then. The mom was so insistent saying they could pick her up and drop her off, asking what day worked best, etc etc. She asked if she could arrange the play date through me or her mom and I said me, so she gave me her cell phone number. I could not believe this was happening. I can't imagine myself calling her to tell her that W is not available for a play date at all. I left it by saying I would check with her mother and would let her know.
I had a true moment out of 'The Nanny Diaries' today when we got back to their building. I was carrying W's backpack and she ran ahead into the elevator and crouched down in the corner like she always does. When I stepped into the elevator there was a cute guy asking me what floor because the elevator man wasn't there yet. I met my "Harvard cutie" in the elevator, which is where I think she meets her man in the book. He was laughing at W which is a good sign...he likes kids. I hope I run into him again.
When I was putting W's lunch bag away, I found a room that I've never ventured into before. It's very small, probably meant to be a kid's studio or a little playroom, so I explored because the mom wasn't home yet. It was full of antique lamps without the bulbs and antique paintings. I don't know if any of you have seen "An Education" yet (I hope you have because it's amazing), but if you have I hope you know what's running through my head. What are they doing with these antique pieces? They're not being used in their house....
I had a lot of time to kill with the girls today because they had no after school activities and no homework or reading to do with me because they were leaving at 6:30. I basically just had to play with them and give them their bath. Not a bad day. W loves to draw which is good because I love doodling, so we resorted to drawing again. She was so cute because she brought out the huge box of markers and she was pretending that they were all sleeping. We had to "wake up" the markers one by one to use them. It was pretty darling. W has a calendar where you're supposed to draw something for each month representing what the month is. For February she drew a lot of hearts and butterflies. I asked her and M if they would be my Valentine this year and they said yes. Not only do I have ONE valentine, I have 2! I wish Valentine's Day wasn't on a Sunday this year because I would have a lot of fun bringing them cute stuff.
M got to go to the NYC Transit Museum today on a field trip and I just happened to have gone there last week. I thought it was really neat how you could go down into the subway and walk into the subway cars from throughout the decades. M said she thought the museum was boring. I loved it!
My roommate knows a few phrases in Tagalog (the native language in the Philippines) so he taught me one I could say to Mercy. I told her "Salamot Po" which means "thank you very much". She was very touched that I learned that for her and she bowed her head and returned the phrase.
I gave the girls their bath fairly early on because there was nothing else to do. While I was blow-drying their hair the girls started singing "Do Re Mi" so I sang along, naturally, and we went through the song several times through. It was a Mary Poppin's moment.
Speaking of Mary Poppins, I received 3 of my 4 nanny books from amazon.com. I got "Searching for Mary Poppins: Women write about the relationship between mothers and nannies", "And Nanny Makes Three: Mothers and nannies tell the truth about work, love, money, and each other", and "White House Nannies: True tales from the other department of Homeland Security". That last one I can thank my best friend, Suzanne, for. She recommended that one and I went on amazon to find it and ended up buying 3 more books. I'm really excited to get started on these.
I always pick out their pj's for after the bath or in this case, their clothes. They were going to be in the car to drive to their weekend house so I gave them comfy clothes to wear. They both had simple long-sleeved shirts. They put them on, no problems. Later, Mercy came in and saw that they didn't have undershirts on underneath. Mercy said it was their dad's rule that they needed undershirts on at all times. I don't understand that one but whatever.
The dad came home earlier than he normally does and I was surprised to see him come into the bedroom where we all were and give them kisses. It was the most affectionate I had ever seen him with them. I thought, maybe this family is pretty functional when they're all together. They do spend the weekend together as the 4 of them, after all. He requested that M do her 20 minutes of reading with me before they left and she was not excited. I sat down on her bed and she read laying down with her legs draped over my legs. W sat nearby drawing. It felt like a family.
I didn't realize this but the mom is leaving for Japan on Saturday morning and is going to be there through all next week and a few days the following week. She typed up a very detailed schedule for me and Mercy. W's schedule was in green ink, M's schedule in pink. This coordinated with their bath towels. Very clever. Then the dad is going to be in Europe for a few of those days that she's also gone, so it will be just me and Mercy. I cannot wait. She sat me down and went over the schedule with me to make sure I knew everything going on. They have a busy schedule next week between play dates, ballet, tutoring, and T tutoring. The mom gave me the class directories for M and W and told me for the play dates that I could look up the family to find their address and their phone number. This week is going to feel more like parenting than ever.
She gave me an envelope with $200 in it for the week and a half which is meant for transportation (read: taxis). I don't think we're going to use it all and I wish I could just keep the change, but I don't see that happening.
Next week is going to be fun....stay tuned.
Fridays are short days because they leave for their weekend home at 6:30. I can't say I mind this early departure.
I met another nanny today at the school. On Fridays for some reason, they get picked up at their classroom instead of in the lobby where I normally get her. This was my first Friday doing this so I didn't remember how to get to the classroom. Luckily, there was a girl signing in behind me who said she was going there too and would lead the way. She's an actress as well and I wanted to ask her how she was balancing nannying and acting but I didn't get a chance. She was very nice though and I'm sure I'll run into her again. Probably next week.
W was so cute showing me around her hallway and showing me the artwork she did. I think she was self-conscious about her artwork because she would show me a piece of art that she did and then she would see one that was better than hers and say, "oh wait, this is mine", even though I could see the initials on it and knew it wasn't hers.
I'll bet you can take a guess as to where we went after school. Again, W held my hand the whole way there and walked backwards the entire way. I had a very protective moment of W in 7-11 today. When we were picking out her snack, a very rambunctious girl in an ugly fluffy, pink coat came marching up to W and asked if she wanted to have a play date. She was chomping down on a pastry and was getting crumbs all over herself. W did not seem excited right off the bat. Then the mom came over. I had seen this mom in the hallways every day to pick up W. She was the one mother who always seemed a little more frantic and badly dressed. She has stringy, bleached hair and a smoker's skin. She has bad taste in coats, like her daughter, and has a dalmation print scraggly faux-fur coat. So the mom comes over and introduces herself to me and says she's (insert name here)'s mom. I recognized this name right away as the name that W said was the class bully. I was like ooooh, noooo. The bully wants to have a play date with W....absolutely not. Bully's mom asked W if she would like to come over next week for a play date and W shook her head. I could have hugged her right then. The mom was so insistent saying they could pick her up and drop her off, asking what day worked best, etc etc. She asked if she could arrange the play date through me or her mom and I said me, so she gave me her cell phone number. I could not believe this was happening. I can't imagine myself calling her to tell her that W is not available for a play date at all. I left it by saying I would check with her mother and would let her know.
I had a true moment out of 'The Nanny Diaries' today when we got back to their building. I was carrying W's backpack and she ran ahead into the elevator and crouched down in the corner like she always does. When I stepped into the elevator there was a cute guy asking me what floor because the elevator man wasn't there yet. I met my "Harvard cutie" in the elevator, which is where I think she meets her man in the book. He was laughing at W which is a good sign...he likes kids. I hope I run into him again.
When I was putting W's lunch bag away, I found a room that I've never ventured into before. It's very small, probably meant to be a kid's studio or a little playroom, so I explored because the mom wasn't home yet. It was full of antique lamps without the bulbs and antique paintings. I don't know if any of you have seen "An Education" yet (I hope you have because it's amazing), but if you have I hope you know what's running through my head. What are they doing with these antique pieces? They're not being used in their house....
I had a lot of time to kill with the girls today because they had no after school activities and no homework or reading to do with me because they were leaving at 6:30. I basically just had to play with them and give them their bath. Not a bad day. W loves to draw which is good because I love doodling, so we resorted to drawing again. She was so cute because she brought out the huge box of markers and she was pretending that they were all sleeping. We had to "wake up" the markers one by one to use them. It was pretty darling. W has a calendar where you're supposed to draw something for each month representing what the month is. For February she drew a lot of hearts and butterflies. I asked her and M if they would be my Valentine this year and they said yes. Not only do I have ONE valentine, I have 2! I wish Valentine's Day wasn't on a Sunday this year because I would have a lot of fun bringing them cute stuff.
M got to go to the NYC Transit Museum today on a field trip and I just happened to have gone there last week. I thought it was really neat how you could go down into the subway and walk into the subway cars from throughout the decades. M said she thought the museum was boring. I loved it!
My roommate knows a few phrases in Tagalog (the native language in the Philippines) so he taught me one I could say to Mercy. I told her "Salamot Po" which means "thank you very much". She was very touched that I learned that for her and she bowed her head and returned the phrase.
I gave the girls their bath fairly early on because there was nothing else to do. While I was blow-drying their hair the girls started singing "Do Re Mi" so I sang along, naturally, and we went through the song several times through. It was a Mary Poppin's moment.
Speaking of Mary Poppins, I received 3 of my 4 nanny books from amazon.com. I got "Searching for Mary Poppins: Women write about the relationship between mothers and nannies", "And Nanny Makes Three: Mothers and nannies tell the truth about work, love, money, and each other", and "White House Nannies: True tales from the other department of Homeland Security". That last one I can thank my best friend, Suzanne, for. She recommended that one and I went on amazon to find it and ended up buying 3 more books. I'm really excited to get started on these.
I always pick out their pj's for after the bath or in this case, their clothes. They were going to be in the car to drive to their weekend house so I gave them comfy clothes to wear. They both had simple long-sleeved shirts. They put them on, no problems. Later, Mercy came in and saw that they didn't have undershirts on underneath. Mercy said it was their dad's rule that they needed undershirts on at all times. I don't understand that one but whatever.
The dad came home earlier than he normally does and I was surprised to see him come into the bedroom where we all were and give them kisses. It was the most affectionate I had ever seen him with them. I thought, maybe this family is pretty functional when they're all together. They do spend the weekend together as the 4 of them, after all. He requested that M do her 20 minutes of reading with me before they left and she was not excited. I sat down on her bed and she read laying down with her legs draped over my legs. W sat nearby drawing. It felt like a family.
I didn't realize this but the mom is leaving for Japan on Saturday morning and is going to be there through all next week and a few days the following week. She typed up a very detailed schedule for me and Mercy. W's schedule was in green ink, M's schedule in pink. This coordinated with their bath towels. Very clever. Then the dad is going to be in Europe for a few of those days that she's also gone, so it will be just me and Mercy. I cannot wait. She sat me down and went over the schedule with me to make sure I knew everything going on. They have a busy schedule next week between play dates, ballet, tutoring, and T tutoring. The mom gave me the class directories for M and W and told me for the play dates that I could look up the family to find their address and their phone number. This week is going to feel more like parenting than ever.
She gave me an envelope with $200 in it for the week and a half which is meant for transportation (read: taxis). I don't think we're going to use it all and I wish I could just keep the change, but I don't see that happening.
Next week is going to be fun....stay tuned.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Saisho Wa Gu!
I have to start this entry off with the story behind the title of this entry. I have finally mastered how to say "Rock, Paper, Scissors" in Japanese. They played it in the car the first day I was with them, and I was enthralled. I wanted to learn it right away but I couldn't get a grasp of the words and I could not learn it for the life of me. Every so often I would ask the girls if they could say it again so I could learn it. This usually happened in the bathtub- I would be sitting on the toilet lid next to them and testing my Rock, Paper, Scissors ability. They would giggle non-stop and make fun of my accent. M once said, "once you practice it a lot your accent will get better". She called me out! Well, I am proud to say that although I have not mastered the accent, I now know the whole chant. I have no idea how to type it so you'll just have to trust me. But next time you're with me in person, ask me to play Rock, Paper, Scissors with you in Japanese and I will kick your butt :)
I really love these girls. I could never replace their mother and I know that I'm not, but it's starting to feel as if the girls are needing me more. Even though that's sad, I sort of like it. Today was the second day in a row where W came out of school smiling to see me. She held my hand the whole way to 7-11 which was unprecedented. One may think it's weird I notice these things but I think it shows a huge jump in our relationship. She was so sweet and cooperative in 7-11, not whining when I told her she could only have 1 pack of gummies instead of 2, and not running away from me like she used to do.
Even though I complain all the time about the mom and about the family situation, I'm actually pretty lucky because it could be a lot worse. I got 2 e-mails on my blackberry while I was on the bus on my way to pick up W, and they were both from the nanny agency I'm a member of. I joined this nanny agency and then got this job right beforehand, so I haven't actually used the agency for anything yet but I get the e-mails even still. Anywaaaay, one of the e-mails was saying this family needs a nanny who can be there all day and who doesn't mind doing housework on top of it. I can't imagine watching these girls AND cleaning the house at the same time. I pick up after them all the time but that's the extent of cleaning. The e-mail said the dad in the family is away on business trips a lot so they need someone who can assume a lot of the responsibility. That made me sad that the dad is never home. Then I got another e-mail about a woman who needed a sitter an hour and a half from then and who had an NYU ID. Well, ma'am, what are you going to do with your son in an hour and a half when you haven't found a sitter? I just can't believe that parents leave it up to such last minute.
I also got a text on the bus from the mother of my family saying that she and her husband are going out tonight and she said she cooked pasta that I would just need to reheat. Wait, rewind....SHE cooked the pasta?? I have a really hard time believing that...
W and I were finishing up a necklace that she was making for her mom out of colorful wooden beads when the mom came in and said she had a visitor coming. This visitor was a guy who came to assess all the doors and handles in their house, because the mom had made a list of each door that was having a problem, and let me tell you, these were hardly problems. Not problematic enough to call for getting the entire door replaced! They're replacing every door in the house almost because of a knob that's hard to turn or something lame like that. The mom told me she was expecting a delivery from the back door and that if the doorbell rang I should get it since she was going to be occupied with the handy man. The doorbell rang and I went to receive the package, and it was her dry cleaning....not just any dry cleaning....a Valentino dress. Valentino. Not fair.
W and I played on our own for awhile, playing hide and seek or playing with markers or making jewelry. She was fun to play with today again because she said "yes". She was telling me a story about how her mom once yelled at kids for being too loud in the park at night time because they were keeping W up. W said, "see? I told you she's strict". That was the first time I heard one of the girls call their mom out on being harsh. M, I think, feels the brunt more than W because she has tons of homework and W doesn't.
M came home later because she met with her tutor today. The mom told me in the text that M had to finish her homework before bath so I helped her with her homework while Mercy entertained W. Thank goodness for Mercy. While I was playing with M in the bath, Mercy was helping W make spiders out of silly putty to scare me with because W knows how much I HATE spiders. Isn't she sweet?
W had her bath time earlier which was awesome because I told her she needed to take a quick bath, and she washed her hair and conditioned it in 22 seconds. I'm not so sure how clean she actually got but I don't care because I was so happy she was so quick. M got a very quick bath too and then before I knew it, the mom was gone and I was left to handle the evening alone....and with Mercy.
When the mom left, she didn't even say bye to the girls. She stopped in the doorway of W's room where I was drying their hair and she was wearing a black dress with feathery and sparkly sleeves. She looked like an exquisite bird. She said, "I expect you to keep to your bed times tonight", and with a whisk of her dress around the corner, she was gone. No kisses on the foreheads and "I love you's". The girls either didn't notice the lack of love or didn't care, because then they got pretty hyper for dinner. I think they were taking advantage of the fact that their mom wasn't there so they thought they could act out more than normal....and I actually let them.
Tonight was the best because I sat at the head of the table in between the 2 girls where the mom normally sits, and I had a big mug of coffee (Starbucks via again) and just sat there like the mom does. W was quick to inform me that I can't put my elbows on the table. She showed me the proper way- by folding your hands and placing just your hands on the table. I should have guessed that. From where I could sit at the head, I had the best view: I could see the windows to my left in the dining room with the city lights shining through, but then I could see into the dark living room with it's massive windows wrapping around all the walls, and I could make out the city lights faintly through the curtains. I would love to have that view every night.
There was some pasta left over in the pot and Mercy asked if I wanted it. Have I mentioned that I love her? So I got to eat real food for dinner! M had cantaloupe for dessert which I snuck some pieces of, and W had squeezy yogurt, her favorite. I even got my own dessert. I had gotten a Greek yogurt with pomegranate seeds at 7-11, so I ate that for dessert. Then when M saw that she wanted a yogurt and W wanted another squeezy yogurt. Normally I would have said no to 2 desserts but they had been good that day and I was in particularly good mood since we were home alone.
When I got the spoons for the yogurt I got a generic spoon, a silver spoon that I would use in my kitchen. W said, "you can't use those! You have to use the nice silverware!" She pulled out the next drawer which was full of Tiffany's silverware. Yeah, they use Tiffany's silverware at dinner every night. Whomp. I asked how come I had to use those instead and she said, "Mom says they're more presentable". I just can't understand how it matters what's more presentable or not when there's no company over.
Mercy was a hoot because she saw a notice from M's school that M was going on a field trip tomorrow and that they needed to bring a bag lunch. Mercy was like, "Mrs. U didn't tell me about this! Do I need to do this?" She didn't know what to pack them and was freaking out about bringing the wrong things even though it just said they can't have candy or soda or peanuts. She made M a roll with butter and cheese on it. It was...cute looking. I was helping her to figure out what to pack and what to put it in because she was so frantic about it, which is really funny because normally she's so on top of everything!
The girls gave me a tough time about brushing their teeth but then it was smooth sailing. I read to W first like I always do while M read to Mercy in the other room. I put her down, knowing fully well that she would not be going to sleep any time soon. Then I got my half hour time to read Harry Potter with M. I checked up on W, was not sleeping, so I turned out her light at 8:00pm. Then I went into the nanny room where Mercy was ironing. She was sleeping there again since the parents were gone and she was still working. She's a slave horse.
I ended up staying in that room talking to Mercy for half an hour. It was the best. We talked about her kids and all her grandchildren, and the family she used to work for and how long she's worked for this family. I learned she's from the Philippines. She asked what I did and I told her I was an actress. She got all excited and said, "have you heard of Lea Salonga?" I told her my room mate did a show in Asia with her and that they were friends and that Lea is very nice. She was very excited about that. She told me the family she worked for previously to the U's, she was with for 9 years. She was with them from the time the boy was 6 months old to when he was 9 years old. She slept there every night and she was the one in charge of waking up in the middle of the night when the baby cried to feed him and rock him. She said she worked 24 hours there and didn't get paid as much as she does here. I can't imagine. She said the mom was very lazy and did nothing but would order Mercy to do everything.
I asked questions about the U's because I have no idea what the parents do. As soon as I brought up the parents, she started talking in a whisper as if it was top secret and we weren't supposed to know. She said that Mrs. U's parents bought them this apartment in NY. She said they own a school that has locations in Japan, Hawaii, Italy, and in the US. I suppose they are the main source of income for their family. Mrs. U, however, is the president of this school and she makes $2 million a year. Mercy was like, don't tell them you know this! I'm not supposed to talk about this. Mr. U owns his own real-estate business.
Mercy was going on too about their weekend house in Purchase and how amazing it is. She said it's 5x the size of their apartment here which I honestly cannot fathom. She said Mrs. U's bathroom there is incredible. I told her I thought her bathroom HERE was incredible! Mercy said, "oh, this is nothing. You would be amazed".
I kissed each girl on the forehead before I left and said "sweet dreams" and I said a warm goodnight to Mercy because now I feel much closer to her, and I crept out with a full heart.
I really love these girls. I could never replace their mother and I know that I'm not, but it's starting to feel as if the girls are needing me more. Even though that's sad, I sort of like it. Today was the second day in a row where W came out of school smiling to see me. She held my hand the whole way to 7-11 which was unprecedented. One may think it's weird I notice these things but I think it shows a huge jump in our relationship. She was so sweet and cooperative in 7-11, not whining when I told her she could only have 1 pack of gummies instead of 2, and not running away from me like she used to do.
Even though I complain all the time about the mom and about the family situation, I'm actually pretty lucky because it could be a lot worse. I got 2 e-mails on my blackberry while I was on the bus on my way to pick up W, and they were both from the nanny agency I'm a member of. I joined this nanny agency and then got this job right beforehand, so I haven't actually used the agency for anything yet but I get the e-mails even still. Anywaaaay, one of the e-mails was saying this family needs a nanny who can be there all day and who doesn't mind doing housework on top of it. I can't imagine watching these girls AND cleaning the house at the same time. I pick up after them all the time but that's the extent of cleaning. The e-mail said the dad in the family is away on business trips a lot so they need someone who can assume a lot of the responsibility. That made me sad that the dad is never home. Then I got another e-mail about a woman who needed a sitter an hour and a half from then and who had an NYU ID. Well, ma'am, what are you going to do with your son in an hour and a half when you haven't found a sitter? I just can't believe that parents leave it up to such last minute.
I also got a text on the bus from the mother of my family saying that she and her husband are going out tonight and she said she cooked pasta that I would just need to reheat. Wait, rewind....SHE cooked the pasta?? I have a really hard time believing that...
W and I were finishing up a necklace that she was making for her mom out of colorful wooden beads when the mom came in and said she had a visitor coming. This visitor was a guy who came to assess all the doors and handles in their house, because the mom had made a list of each door that was having a problem, and let me tell you, these were hardly problems. Not problematic enough to call for getting the entire door replaced! They're replacing every door in the house almost because of a knob that's hard to turn or something lame like that. The mom told me she was expecting a delivery from the back door and that if the doorbell rang I should get it since she was going to be occupied with the handy man. The doorbell rang and I went to receive the package, and it was her dry cleaning....not just any dry cleaning....a Valentino dress. Valentino. Not fair.
W and I played on our own for awhile, playing hide and seek or playing with markers or making jewelry. She was fun to play with today again because she said "yes". She was telling me a story about how her mom once yelled at kids for being too loud in the park at night time because they were keeping W up. W said, "see? I told you she's strict". That was the first time I heard one of the girls call their mom out on being harsh. M, I think, feels the brunt more than W because she has tons of homework and W doesn't.
M came home later because she met with her tutor today. The mom told me in the text that M had to finish her homework before bath so I helped her with her homework while Mercy entertained W. Thank goodness for Mercy. While I was playing with M in the bath, Mercy was helping W make spiders out of silly putty to scare me with because W knows how much I HATE spiders. Isn't she sweet?
W had her bath time earlier which was awesome because I told her she needed to take a quick bath, and she washed her hair and conditioned it in 22 seconds. I'm not so sure how clean she actually got but I don't care because I was so happy she was so quick. M got a very quick bath too and then before I knew it, the mom was gone and I was left to handle the evening alone....and with Mercy.
When the mom left, she didn't even say bye to the girls. She stopped in the doorway of W's room where I was drying their hair and she was wearing a black dress with feathery and sparkly sleeves. She looked like an exquisite bird. She said, "I expect you to keep to your bed times tonight", and with a whisk of her dress around the corner, she was gone. No kisses on the foreheads and "I love you's". The girls either didn't notice the lack of love or didn't care, because then they got pretty hyper for dinner. I think they were taking advantage of the fact that their mom wasn't there so they thought they could act out more than normal....and I actually let them.
Tonight was the best because I sat at the head of the table in between the 2 girls where the mom normally sits, and I had a big mug of coffee (Starbucks via again) and just sat there like the mom does. W was quick to inform me that I can't put my elbows on the table. She showed me the proper way- by folding your hands and placing just your hands on the table. I should have guessed that. From where I could sit at the head, I had the best view: I could see the windows to my left in the dining room with the city lights shining through, but then I could see into the dark living room with it's massive windows wrapping around all the walls, and I could make out the city lights faintly through the curtains. I would love to have that view every night.
There was some pasta left over in the pot and Mercy asked if I wanted it. Have I mentioned that I love her? So I got to eat real food for dinner! M had cantaloupe for dessert which I snuck some pieces of, and W had squeezy yogurt, her favorite. I even got my own dessert. I had gotten a Greek yogurt with pomegranate seeds at 7-11, so I ate that for dessert. Then when M saw that she wanted a yogurt and W wanted another squeezy yogurt. Normally I would have said no to 2 desserts but they had been good that day and I was in particularly good mood since we were home alone.
When I got the spoons for the yogurt I got a generic spoon, a silver spoon that I would use in my kitchen. W said, "you can't use those! You have to use the nice silverware!" She pulled out the next drawer which was full of Tiffany's silverware. Yeah, they use Tiffany's silverware at dinner every night. Whomp. I asked how come I had to use those instead and she said, "Mom says they're more presentable". I just can't understand how it matters what's more presentable or not when there's no company over.
Mercy was a hoot because she saw a notice from M's school that M was going on a field trip tomorrow and that they needed to bring a bag lunch. Mercy was like, "Mrs. U didn't tell me about this! Do I need to do this?" She didn't know what to pack them and was freaking out about bringing the wrong things even though it just said they can't have candy or soda or peanuts. She made M a roll with butter and cheese on it. It was...cute looking. I was helping her to figure out what to pack and what to put it in because she was so frantic about it, which is really funny because normally she's so on top of everything!
The girls gave me a tough time about brushing their teeth but then it was smooth sailing. I read to W first like I always do while M read to Mercy in the other room. I put her down, knowing fully well that she would not be going to sleep any time soon. Then I got my half hour time to read Harry Potter with M. I checked up on W, was not sleeping, so I turned out her light at 8:00pm. Then I went into the nanny room where Mercy was ironing. She was sleeping there again since the parents were gone and she was still working. She's a slave horse.
I ended up staying in that room talking to Mercy for half an hour. It was the best. We talked about her kids and all her grandchildren, and the family she used to work for and how long she's worked for this family. I learned she's from the Philippines. She asked what I did and I told her I was an actress. She got all excited and said, "have you heard of Lea Salonga?" I told her my room mate did a show in Asia with her and that they were friends and that Lea is very nice. She was very excited about that. She told me the family she worked for previously to the U's, she was with for 9 years. She was with them from the time the boy was 6 months old to when he was 9 years old. She slept there every night and she was the one in charge of waking up in the middle of the night when the baby cried to feed him and rock him. She said she worked 24 hours there and didn't get paid as much as she does here. I can't imagine. She said the mom was very lazy and did nothing but would order Mercy to do everything.
I asked questions about the U's because I have no idea what the parents do. As soon as I brought up the parents, she started talking in a whisper as if it was top secret and we weren't supposed to know. She said that Mrs. U's parents bought them this apartment in NY. She said they own a school that has locations in Japan, Hawaii, Italy, and in the US. I suppose they are the main source of income for their family. Mrs. U, however, is the president of this school and she makes $2 million a year. Mercy was like, don't tell them you know this! I'm not supposed to talk about this. Mr. U owns his own real-estate business.
Mercy was going on too about their weekend house in Purchase and how amazing it is. She said it's 5x the size of their apartment here which I honestly cannot fathom. She said Mrs. U's bathroom there is incredible. I told her I thought her bathroom HERE was incredible! Mercy said, "oh, this is nothing. You would be amazed".
I kissed each girl on the forehead before I left and said "sweet dreams" and I said a warm goodnight to Mercy because now I feel much closer to her, and I crept out with a full heart.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
What's that big lump?
I know I said I wouldn't talk about my personal life, but I have to mention this...I went to that audition this morning that I mentioned I was going to. I got myself up at 6:00am and got there at 7:00am, only to find the door to the theatre locked. So I waited outside in the freeeezing cold for an hour and a half but was so proud of myself because I was 2nd in line!! I signed up 2nd on the non-union list, and at 10:10am they announced that non-unions needed to come back at 2:30pm.
Well crap. I have to pick up W at 2:00pm. There goes my whole morning.
So that's how my day started.
I was really surprised that today W was in a good mood to see me and she actually held my hand as we walked down the street! She didn't complain about not getting a snack from 7-11 today but that's probably because I told her we could get a snack at ballet. She always gets fruit snacks. The blue packet. The ballet studio didn't reek today, thank god. There was this adorable pudgy, blond girl shoving a vanilla cupcake into her mouth, her blue eyes wide as anything I've ever seen, and I couldn't help but grin. What is it about pudgy little girls in leotards and tights that is so cute?
After W's class she got her ritual fruit snacks and I got a bag of wheat thin crisps because I was starving. For the first time, W wanted to stay after and watch the adult class. The "adult" class was really a teenage class, consisting of 2 guys and 1 girl. W kept saying she liked the girl the best. I asked her if she wanted to keep doing ballet until she was as big as them and she said no. I asked her why and she said because she didn't want a boy teacher (the teacher was male). When I asked her if she would keep doing it if she had a girl teacher she said yes. There was a video of a ballet playing in the lobby and W seemed entranced by it, so I asked her if she would want to go to a ballet performance with me and she said yeah. That's my new mission.
I didn't mind staying after because I love watching other people in class and critiquing. Out of the blue, W says, "wait a minute, what's that lump?" referring to the male's bulge in his tights. I pretended that I didn't hear her because I did NOT want to have to explain that. Children say the darndest things....
Maybe my favorite moment of the day: W asked if she could have one of my crackers so I gave her one, and she offered me a fruit snack in exchange which was very generous of her. Then she liked it and wanted another, so we swapped snacks and stood and watched the ballet class, occasionally eating out of the others bag. I don't know why but it felt so comfortable and cute.
Finally, I said we needed to head home because it was getting late. We got a female taxi driver which I think I've had only once before. W leaned in and whispered, "I didn't know there were girl taxi drivers". I laughed out loud for a little while. Then the driver slammed on the brakes and I instinctively put my arm across W's lap. There was an old man standing in between the two lanes of traffic. The driver then mumbles, "stupid, stupid, stupid....old man, stupid driver". W and I got a few giggles out of that one. In the taxi, W said, "can you do me a favor? Can you eat all the blueberry ones?" (referring to her GRAPE fruit snacks). I said, "why? You don't like them?" and she shook her head. So I said "aaaalright" and did her a huge favor and ate all the grape ones :)
When we got home there was no one there...a rarity but a beautiful one. We started on her bead necklace right away which she was making for her mom. Then she wanted to get her watch which her mom had told her a few days prior was in her safe. So W leaves the room and comes back saying she needs help getting her watch. I was unaware that would entail going into her mom's closet, knocking off the papers from her vanity, and reaching high up to get to her safe which didn't even have a code to open it. I was so scared we were going to get caught so I tried to hurry up the process so we could get out of her closet. We didn't find the watch so I told her it was probably getting cleaned. I didn't find the watch but I did find tons of red Cartier boxes in her closet. *sigh* To be able to wear Cartier. There was also a box that was rotating with 2 mens watches and a woman's watch encrusted in diamonds that had a code to open it. My favorite thing of all was the other closet I opened that was racks and racks of sexy shoes. It looked like what Carrie's closet would look like. Just beautiful.
Then W showed me her Swarovski crystal jewelry box. Mm hmm. Swarovski. It was stunning and sparkled in the sunlight that was pouring through her windows.
I made another Starbucks via (I'm really liking it more and more) which made my 3rd coffee of the day. Before I knew it it was bath time and M came home just in time. We had our bath/hair drying routine and then dinner. My dinner was goldfish. Their dinner was asparagus tempura and meatballs with carrots, onions and mushrooms. Guh.
I didn't read to W tonight which was probably for the best because I would have fallen asleep. Instead, I helped M with her homework and listened to her read for 20 minutes, then read HP for 15 minutes instead of the normal 30. That's also for the best because I was nodding off again during the reading of HP. They both had on the cutest pj's tonight: glow-in-the-dark cupids!
Today was another amazingly good day (for the most part) with a lot of laughs involved.
Also, it was a good day because it was the first time I saw the dad make any effort to say hello to his daughters. He came into their room and they walked up to him and he rubbed the tops of their heads. Maybe that's the most affectionate they ever get. Anyway, it was an improvement from what I've seen.
I hugged the girls goodnight and will do it all again tomorrow...minus the waking up at 6am part.
Well crap. I have to pick up W at 2:00pm. There goes my whole morning.
So that's how my day started.
I was really surprised that today W was in a good mood to see me and she actually held my hand as we walked down the street! She didn't complain about not getting a snack from 7-11 today but that's probably because I told her we could get a snack at ballet. She always gets fruit snacks. The blue packet. The ballet studio didn't reek today, thank god. There was this adorable pudgy, blond girl shoving a vanilla cupcake into her mouth, her blue eyes wide as anything I've ever seen, and I couldn't help but grin. What is it about pudgy little girls in leotards and tights that is so cute?
After W's class she got her ritual fruit snacks and I got a bag of wheat thin crisps because I was starving. For the first time, W wanted to stay after and watch the adult class. The "adult" class was really a teenage class, consisting of 2 guys and 1 girl. W kept saying she liked the girl the best. I asked her if she wanted to keep doing ballet until she was as big as them and she said no. I asked her why and she said because she didn't want a boy teacher (the teacher was male). When I asked her if she would keep doing it if she had a girl teacher she said yes. There was a video of a ballet playing in the lobby and W seemed entranced by it, so I asked her if she would want to go to a ballet performance with me and she said yeah. That's my new mission.
I didn't mind staying after because I love watching other people in class and critiquing. Out of the blue, W says, "wait a minute, what's that lump?" referring to the male's bulge in his tights. I pretended that I didn't hear her because I did NOT want to have to explain that. Children say the darndest things....
Maybe my favorite moment of the day: W asked if she could have one of my crackers so I gave her one, and she offered me a fruit snack in exchange which was very generous of her. Then she liked it and wanted another, so we swapped snacks and stood and watched the ballet class, occasionally eating out of the others bag. I don't know why but it felt so comfortable and cute.
Finally, I said we needed to head home because it was getting late. We got a female taxi driver which I think I've had only once before. W leaned in and whispered, "I didn't know there were girl taxi drivers". I laughed out loud for a little while. Then the driver slammed on the brakes and I instinctively put my arm across W's lap. There was an old man standing in between the two lanes of traffic. The driver then mumbles, "stupid, stupid, stupid....old man, stupid driver". W and I got a few giggles out of that one. In the taxi, W said, "can you do me a favor? Can you eat all the blueberry ones?" (referring to her GRAPE fruit snacks). I said, "why? You don't like them?" and she shook her head. So I said "aaaalright" and did her a huge favor and ate all the grape ones :)
When we got home there was no one there...a rarity but a beautiful one. We started on her bead necklace right away which she was making for her mom. Then she wanted to get her watch which her mom had told her a few days prior was in her safe. So W leaves the room and comes back saying she needs help getting her watch. I was unaware that would entail going into her mom's closet, knocking off the papers from her vanity, and reaching high up to get to her safe which didn't even have a code to open it. I was so scared we were going to get caught so I tried to hurry up the process so we could get out of her closet. We didn't find the watch so I told her it was probably getting cleaned. I didn't find the watch but I did find tons of red Cartier boxes in her closet. *sigh* To be able to wear Cartier. There was also a box that was rotating with 2 mens watches and a woman's watch encrusted in diamonds that had a code to open it. My favorite thing of all was the other closet I opened that was racks and racks of sexy shoes. It looked like what Carrie's closet would look like. Just beautiful.
Then W showed me her Swarovski crystal jewelry box. Mm hmm. Swarovski. It was stunning and sparkled in the sunlight that was pouring through her windows.
I made another Starbucks via (I'm really liking it more and more) which made my 3rd coffee of the day. Before I knew it it was bath time and M came home just in time. We had our bath/hair drying routine and then dinner. My dinner was goldfish. Their dinner was asparagus tempura and meatballs with carrots, onions and mushrooms. Guh.
I didn't read to W tonight which was probably for the best because I would have fallen asleep. Instead, I helped M with her homework and listened to her read for 20 minutes, then read HP for 15 minutes instead of the normal 30. That's also for the best because I was nodding off again during the reading of HP. They both had on the cutest pj's tonight: glow-in-the-dark cupids!
Today was another amazingly good day (for the most part) with a lot of laughs involved.
Also, it was a good day because it was the first time I saw the dad make any effort to say hello to his daughters. He came into their room and they walked up to him and he rubbed the tops of their heads. Maybe that's the most affectionate they ever get. Anyway, it was an improvement from what I've seen.
I hugged the girls goodnight and will do it all again tomorrow...minus the waking up at 6am part.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thank Heaven for 7-11
This is going to be a shorter entry (I know, you're like "thank god") because I'm waking up in 5 hours to go to an audition FINALLY!!! We're going to see how balancing auditions and picking up W from school on time works out. All I have to say is, it HAS to work out.
Today was another good day with them. I don't know how I keep getting good days with them but I think they're getting better. It was actually nice to see them today having not seen them for 3 days. I was worried about how this day was going to go because before I even left the house to pick up W I got a text from the mother saying...and I quote...."E, T will not come until next Wednesday. Pls make sure M does her homework and reading with u before bath. Bath has to be done by 6:00. They like playing in the bath tub but not more than 10 mins. See u later!"
Yikes.
I get W from school and she has that same expression on her face that she does every time she sees me at school that's a combination of, I was hoping it would be mom today but it's you, and, another day to do what? On our walk to 7-11 today a little girl screamed out her name and it was her friend who was walking a good ways behind us. The babysitter introduced herself and we found out we were all going to 7-11! I'm so glad I met another babysitter who's really nice and whom was a good distraction from the everyday routine of going to 7-11 and me getting annoyed at W wanting everything. They invited us over to their house to play for an hour and I was really excited at the thought of going somewhere other than home right away. I called the mother to ask but she didn't pick up, so homeward bound we were, but we discussed doing it on Thursday instead. The mother called me back while we were in the taxi and I asked her if we could get the girls together on Thursday after school and she said, "oh thank you, E, for making a play date with her!" and I wondered, was that something I was supposed to do all along? If so, I had no idea.
In the taxi, W asked me if I had a bully in my school. I told her about my kindergarten bully, Marqueesha, who used to suck on the tassels on my nap time mat and it drove me nuts and she knew it. I asked her if she had a bully in her class and she said yeah, and continued to tell me the bad things she does. She tugs on her jacket and throws her backpack in the hall, and I wanted to tell W to smack her in the face and tell her to leave her alone. I couldn't exactly say that, but I found myself having a really hard time explaining how to react to a bully and telling her what she should do. It felt like the perfect opportunity for me to really teach her a good life lesson and say something deep, but I was at a loss. I asked her if she told the teachers about her and she said, "yeah but they're always so busy". That made me really sad. I told her that this girl was doing these things because she wants a bad sort of attention and the best thing to do is to ignore her. I also told her to say, "I don't like when you do that, stop please" but then I thought that would make her seem like a wuss and would get her picked on more. Bullies are a tough category.
In the meanwhile, I just ordered 4 books on amazon about relationships between nannies and mothers. I'm really excited. Maybe one of those books will have some good insight on how to explain bullies to a 5 year-old.
W was really cooperative today and played with me very nicely. I am proud to announce that she put her clothes in her hamper without me even asking. I was so happy about that. She got a new jewelry making set with wooden beads so we spent some time organizing the beads into compartments by colors and shapes. If I had a suggestion she would say, "that's a good idea, E" or she would say, "I have an idea...". It was so fun playing with her today because she offered many good ideas and listened to mine.
So yeah, playtime was really nice, and then M came home. They drew together and were playing very nicely with each other which they normally do. W and I continued to make Valentine's day crafts from her crafts book. Today we made a friendship necklace which actually turned out pretty sweet. She gave the other half to M. I sort of wanted it. I have to say, I've been pretty proud of myself for being so crafty lately. Between the coloring books and the Valentine's Day crafts, I've been super duper.
Fast-forward to dinner: I was smart enough to get 2 mini bagels from a bagel shop before I picked up W and I brought an apple from home, so I actually had a "decent" dinner tonight. I sat in their room and cleaned up in between bites. When I did go check in on the girls at the dinner table, M and W were fighting over where I would sit. That was touching. I didn't really like their dinner tonight so there was nothing I wanted to pick at. Good thing for my apple and baby bagels!
I was so tired that I legit FELL ASLEEP while I was reading Harry Potter to M. My eyes were rolling back and I was slurring my speech and reading the wrong words. I honestly have no idea what I read. I was just reading sounds on the pages.
Back to normal....
Today was another good day with them. I don't know how I keep getting good days with them but I think they're getting better. It was actually nice to see them today having not seen them for 3 days. I was worried about how this day was going to go because before I even left the house to pick up W I got a text from the mother saying...and I quote...."E, T will not come until next Wednesday. Pls make sure M does her homework and reading with u before bath. Bath has to be done by 6:00. They like playing in the bath tub but not more than 10 mins. See u later!"
Yikes.
I get W from school and she has that same expression on her face that she does every time she sees me at school that's a combination of, I was hoping it would be mom today but it's you, and, another day to do what? On our walk to 7-11 today a little girl screamed out her name and it was her friend who was walking a good ways behind us. The babysitter introduced herself and we found out we were all going to 7-11! I'm so glad I met another babysitter who's really nice and whom was a good distraction from the everyday routine of going to 7-11 and me getting annoyed at W wanting everything. They invited us over to their house to play for an hour and I was really excited at the thought of going somewhere other than home right away. I called the mother to ask but she didn't pick up, so homeward bound we were, but we discussed doing it on Thursday instead. The mother called me back while we were in the taxi and I asked her if we could get the girls together on Thursday after school and she said, "oh thank you, E, for making a play date with her!" and I wondered, was that something I was supposed to do all along? If so, I had no idea.
In the taxi, W asked me if I had a bully in my school. I told her about my kindergarten bully, Marqueesha, who used to suck on the tassels on my nap time mat and it drove me nuts and she knew it. I asked her if she had a bully in her class and she said yeah, and continued to tell me the bad things she does. She tugs on her jacket and throws her backpack in the hall, and I wanted to tell W to smack her in the face and tell her to leave her alone. I couldn't exactly say that, but I found myself having a really hard time explaining how to react to a bully and telling her what she should do. It felt like the perfect opportunity for me to really teach her a good life lesson and say something deep, but I was at a loss. I asked her if she told the teachers about her and she said, "yeah but they're always so busy". That made me really sad. I told her that this girl was doing these things because she wants a bad sort of attention and the best thing to do is to ignore her. I also told her to say, "I don't like when you do that, stop please" but then I thought that would make her seem like a wuss and would get her picked on more. Bullies are a tough category.
In the meanwhile, I just ordered 4 books on amazon about relationships between nannies and mothers. I'm really excited. Maybe one of those books will have some good insight on how to explain bullies to a 5 year-old.
W was really cooperative today and played with me very nicely. I am proud to announce that she put her clothes in her hamper without me even asking. I was so happy about that. She got a new jewelry making set with wooden beads so we spent some time organizing the beads into compartments by colors and shapes. If I had a suggestion she would say, "that's a good idea, E" or she would say, "I have an idea...". It was so fun playing with her today because she offered many good ideas and listened to mine.
So yeah, playtime was really nice, and then M came home. They drew together and were playing very nicely with each other which they normally do. W and I continued to make Valentine's day crafts from her crafts book. Today we made a friendship necklace which actually turned out pretty sweet. She gave the other half to M. I sort of wanted it. I have to say, I've been pretty proud of myself for being so crafty lately. Between the coloring books and the Valentine's Day crafts, I've been super duper.
Fast-forward to dinner: I was smart enough to get 2 mini bagels from a bagel shop before I picked up W and I brought an apple from home, so I actually had a "decent" dinner tonight. I sat in their room and cleaned up in between bites. When I did go check in on the girls at the dinner table, M and W were fighting over where I would sit. That was touching. I didn't really like their dinner tonight so there was nothing I wanted to pick at. Good thing for my apple and baby bagels!
I was so tired that I legit FELL ASLEEP while I was reading Harry Potter to M. My eyes were rolling back and I was slurring my speech and reading the wrong words. I honestly have no idea what I read. I was just reading sounds on the pages.
Back to normal....
Friday, January 15, 2010
Sweetiepie
Today was the shortest/weirdest/most uncomfortable/relaxing days I've had babysitting.
The mother picked up W from school so I met them at their apartment. I found out that I was going to be accompanying W to a birthday party and we were leaving in an hour. Yay! I love birthday parties! I love getting to get out of the house for a whole 2 hours! Picking out her outfit for the party was a very big ordeal. Her mother had her own opinions on what she should wear and ultimately picked out what she was to wear. It was a pressed, creme-colored long-sleeved shirt with a ruffle down the front that matched her creme-colored chiffon skirt with a gold design on the hem. It was an Italian designer's line for children and it was gorgeous. She looked like a ballerina in a tutu. I noticed from going through most of her dresses and skirts in her closet that the majority of her clothes are designer. I don't even want to think about how much her "comfy" skirt cost, her "comfy" skirt being the one she changes into for playtime. Ugh.
She snuck a pink lipgloss with sparkles into her coat pocket to bring with her since that was the only make-up she was allowed to wear. The mother was accompanying us to the venue in their private car, and then I was to stay with W at the party while the mother went off and did who knows what, and then we would be picked up at 5:30 from the party. Let me explain how this reallly went down....
The mother did, in fact, drive with us to the party. As the three of us stepped into the elevator, the doors were about to close and the mother goes, "Emma, present!" and I ran back in to retrieve the birthday girl's present. Why I was supposed to be the one in charge of that, I can only assume, but I felt like I was in major nanny mode at that point. The car pulled up to let us in and I sat in the backseat with W while the mother sat in front. I learned later, that the mother (or the one with the money who is hiring the car) likes to sit in the back. I suppose to have more privacy, but I wasn't aware of this so I hopped in the backseat with W assuming the mom would want the front seat. Next time, I will offer her the back.
The taxi ride was sad because W had been trying to ask her mother since we stepped in the elevator where her watch was and her mother was blatantly ignoring her to type something away in her blackberry. The mom would tell her to hush and W would keep trying to ask and the mother kept her nose shoved in her blackberry. I kept trying to tell W that we would find her watch when we got back to their house. I was telling her all the places I thought it was, but if mommy wasn't listening to her, it didn't matter what I said. W's face grew long and her eyes looked sad and she stopped trying to ask and looked longingly out the window. This was a moment straight out of "The Nanny Diaries" and I suddenly felt bad for wanting any of those same situations so I could compare it to that. I had this maternal urge to stroke her hair and make her feel better. I felt so bad for W. Then I started humming "Inch worm, inch worm..." and she joined in. It was as if we had a secret bond with that song because we were singing it together yesterday. I also winked at her when she pulled out her lipgloss because she knew her mom wouldn't want her to bring it.
Back to the drama- when we got in the car, the mother gave the driver the address and showed it to him on a piece of paper. Forty-five minutes later....the driver took us to Greenwich ST instead of Greenwich AVE. The mother finally realized that the driver did not understand which Greenwich we were going to and reiterated that they were to go to Greenwich AVE and that he went to ST. I wish she had just said it that friendly.... ohhhhh no. She blew up at him calmly (I know that sounds like an oxymoron) but she went off saying how "this is not right. The party started already and we are late and I had stuff I needed to do after we dropped them off. This is why I wrote it down for you. You need to pay more attention. This is just wrong" and she kept going and going. It felt so uncomfortable. The driver did mess up but I felt bad for him.
Meanwhile, W is passed out in the backseat curled up with her face smushed against the leather seat, her chiffon tutu peaking out from underneath her robin egg blue winter coat, her black mary janes perched against the car door. She was exhausted and looked so young and sweet. Just a 5 year-old girl who just wanted to go to a birthday party and didn't care about directions.
She woke up complaining she was really hot and her forehead was all sweaty. I took off her winter coat and gave her a piece of paper to make a fan out of. Shortly after that we arrived at the party. I thought the party was going to be at the girl's house- nope, it was at a really cute restaurant called Sweetiepie. It was reminiscent of Serendipity but was for little girls (and boys, I guess). It was decorated in pink and had huge lollipops in jars by the windows. It was really cute. My favorite thing was the bathroom door had a little door for the kids to enter through.
So I took her inside to the back room where the party was but we were half an hour late. They had just sat down to eat so I tried to get W settled somewhere with her friends. The mother had intended for me to stay at the party with her, and so had I! But the mother of the birthday girl said, "Ok, well I think she's fine from here. You can go now". I was like, "okkkkk...." I already had my coat unzipped and my bag on the floor because I was preparing to stay, but there really wasn't room for me and there were no other nannies there. So I had an hour to kill to walk around the West Village before having to go back at 5:30 to pick her up. I really can't complain about this because I was getting paid to go to Starbucks and to Barnes and Noble. I got a skinny cinnamon dolce latte, my new favorite drink (but not anymore because it was $5!!), and perused Barnes and Noble for good books.
I went back to the party at 5:30 and was waiting amongst lots of little people running around my ankles with balloons in their hands and their faces painted, and I wanted to get the hell out of there. All of the mothers had come to pick up their kids and the room was a clusterf**k. Then W's mother appears! That was very smart on her end to drop her off with me because we were late but to come inside when all the mothers were there to make sure W thanked the parents. The mother asked W if she thanked the parents and W said yes, and then the mother looked at me and said, "did she??" and I had to say, "I don't know"....I wasn't there!!
The mother asked me to take out her goody bag and her balloon to the car while she was saying goodbyes, but I couldn't find the car. I paced back and forth across the street looking for the same silver car with the driver from earlier and I could not find him. Then he appeared out of nowhere so I put her things in the back seat and waited outside for them to come out. THEN, the mother pulls on me that they're driving straight from the party to their weekend house in Purchase. Ummmm.....so it's 5:30 and I'm going home?! She offered to drop me off at the subway station (thanks, that's so kind of you) and so they did. She said that they take the west end highway to get to Purchase, so I said, "oh that's funny, I actually live off of the west end highway, but I wouldn't want to inconvenience you by making you get off" and she said "yes". So they drop me off at the subway station at West 4th St, so instead of the half hour subway commute I would have had from their house, I now have an hour commute because I'm in the Village. It was just all so bizarre. As I was getting out of the car the mom told me that Monday is Martin Luther King Day so they don't have school, so I don't need to work until Tuesday! This is nice that I have Monday off, but that means I'm not getting paid for Monday and I missed 2 hours worth of a paycheck today.
Hmph.
Well, here's to a 3 day weekend!
The mother picked up W from school so I met them at their apartment. I found out that I was going to be accompanying W to a birthday party and we were leaving in an hour. Yay! I love birthday parties! I love getting to get out of the house for a whole 2 hours! Picking out her outfit for the party was a very big ordeal. Her mother had her own opinions on what she should wear and ultimately picked out what she was to wear. It was a pressed, creme-colored long-sleeved shirt with a ruffle down the front that matched her creme-colored chiffon skirt with a gold design on the hem. It was an Italian designer's line for children and it was gorgeous. She looked like a ballerina in a tutu. I noticed from going through most of her dresses and skirts in her closet that the majority of her clothes are designer. I don't even want to think about how much her "comfy" skirt cost, her "comfy" skirt being the one she changes into for playtime. Ugh.
She snuck a pink lipgloss with sparkles into her coat pocket to bring with her since that was the only make-up she was allowed to wear. The mother was accompanying us to the venue in their private car, and then I was to stay with W at the party while the mother went off and did who knows what, and then we would be picked up at 5:30 from the party. Let me explain how this reallly went down....
The mother did, in fact, drive with us to the party. As the three of us stepped into the elevator, the doors were about to close and the mother goes, "Emma, present!" and I ran back in to retrieve the birthday girl's present. Why I was supposed to be the one in charge of that, I can only assume, but I felt like I was in major nanny mode at that point. The car pulled up to let us in and I sat in the backseat with W while the mother sat in front. I learned later, that the mother (or the one with the money who is hiring the car) likes to sit in the back. I suppose to have more privacy, but I wasn't aware of this so I hopped in the backseat with W assuming the mom would want the front seat. Next time, I will offer her the back.
The taxi ride was sad because W had been trying to ask her mother since we stepped in the elevator where her watch was and her mother was blatantly ignoring her to type something away in her blackberry. The mom would tell her to hush and W would keep trying to ask and the mother kept her nose shoved in her blackberry. I kept trying to tell W that we would find her watch when we got back to their house. I was telling her all the places I thought it was, but if mommy wasn't listening to her, it didn't matter what I said. W's face grew long and her eyes looked sad and she stopped trying to ask and looked longingly out the window. This was a moment straight out of "The Nanny Diaries" and I suddenly felt bad for wanting any of those same situations so I could compare it to that. I had this maternal urge to stroke her hair and make her feel better. I felt so bad for W. Then I started humming "Inch worm, inch worm..." and she joined in. It was as if we had a secret bond with that song because we were singing it together yesterday. I also winked at her when she pulled out her lipgloss because she knew her mom wouldn't want her to bring it.
Back to the drama- when we got in the car, the mother gave the driver the address and showed it to him on a piece of paper. Forty-five minutes later....the driver took us to Greenwich ST instead of Greenwich AVE. The mother finally realized that the driver did not understand which Greenwich we were going to and reiterated that they were to go to Greenwich AVE and that he went to ST. I wish she had just said it that friendly.... ohhhhh no. She blew up at him calmly (I know that sounds like an oxymoron) but she went off saying how "this is not right. The party started already and we are late and I had stuff I needed to do after we dropped them off. This is why I wrote it down for you. You need to pay more attention. This is just wrong" and she kept going and going. It felt so uncomfortable. The driver did mess up but I felt bad for him.
Meanwhile, W is passed out in the backseat curled up with her face smushed against the leather seat, her chiffon tutu peaking out from underneath her robin egg blue winter coat, her black mary janes perched against the car door. She was exhausted and looked so young and sweet. Just a 5 year-old girl who just wanted to go to a birthday party and didn't care about directions.
She woke up complaining she was really hot and her forehead was all sweaty. I took off her winter coat and gave her a piece of paper to make a fan out of. Shortly after that we arrived at the party. I thought the party was going to be at the girl's house- nope, it was at a really cute restaurant called Sweetiepie. It was reminiscent of Serendipity but was for little girls (and boys, I guess). It was decorated in pink and had huge lollipops in jars by the windows. It was really cute. My favorite thing was the bathroom door had a little door for the kids to enter through.
So I took her inside to the back room where the party was but we were half an hour late. They had just sat down to eat so I tried to get W settled somewhere with her friends. The mother had intended for me to stay at the party with her, and so had I! But the mother of the birthday girl said, "Ok, well I think she's fine from here. You can go now". I was like, "okkkkk...." I already had my coat unzipped and my bag on the floor because I was preparing to stay, but there really wasn't room for me and there were no other nannies there. So I had an hour to kill to walk around the West Village before having to go back at 5:30 to pick her up. I really can't complain about this because I was getting paid to go to Starbucks and to Barnes and Noble. I got a skinny cinnamon dolce latte, my new favorite drink (but not anymore because it was $5!!), and perused Barnes and Noble for good books.
I went back to the party at 5:30 and was waiting amongst lots of little people running around my ankles with balloons in their hands and their faces painted, and I wanted to get the hell out of there. All of the mothers had come to pick up their kids and the room was a clusterf**k. Then W's mother appears! That was very smart on her end to drop her off with me because we were late but to come inside when all the mothers were there to make sure W thanked the parents. The mother asked W if she thanked the parents and W said yes, and then the mother looked at me and said, "did she??" and I had to say, "I don't know"....I wasn't there!!
The mother asked me to take out her goody bag and her balloon to the car while she was saying goodbyes, but I couldn't find the car. I paced back and forth across the street looking for the same silver car with the driver from earlier and I could not find him. Then he appeared out of nowhere so I put her things in the back seat and waited outside for them to come out. THEN, the mother pulls on me that they're driving straight from the party to their weekend house in Purchase. Ummmm.....so it's 5:30 and I'm going home?! She offered to drop me off at the subway station (thanks, that's so kind of you) and so they did. She said that they take the west end highway to get to Purchase, so I said, "oh that's funny, I actually live off of the west end highway, but I wouldn't want to inconvenience you by making you get off" and she said "yes". So they drop me off at the subway station at West 4th St, so instead of the half hour subway commute I would have had from their house, I now have an hour commute because I'm in the Village. It was just all so bizarre. As I was getting out of the car the mom told me that Monday is Martin Luther King Day so they don't have school, so I don't need to work until Tuesday! This is nice that I have Monday off, but that means I'm not getting paid for Monday and I missed 2 hours worth of a paycheck today.
Hmph.
Well, here's to a 3 day weekend!
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