tales from the 'hood...the nannyhood

The Juicy Couture Maclaren stroller....I think this may have bumped the Bugaboo as my favorite stroller....

As if my life weren't hectic and shifting enough now, the family I nannied for when I first came down here is moving. Like, moving to another state. I've known they were moving, but they leave next week! I will miss them terribly. I met them when S was pregnant with the twins, and L was almost 2. And then the twins were born 10 weeks early, and there was the 24/7 craziness of having the twins in the NICU, bringing one home, then the other one...and serendipitously, I was babysitting when each twin was brought home for the first time. Those were crazybusy days - the parents would be on the couches asleep in the living room with the twins when I got there in the morning, after being up till all hours. I don't know how they did it. And then L went through something like the "terrible 2s" and would spit food out, refuse to eat, and once, he even stabbed me in the leg with his fork. We spent many minutes sitting in time out. But then there was the night that the parents brought home a small vanilla cake and a bottle of pinot grigio for me at the end of last year, to celebrate the end of the year, not to mention the yummy PF Chang's dinner they had. I was so touched that S remembered I liked vanilla cake and white wine. This year, I wasn't able to babysit as much, because of research and school. But this family has always been in my thoughts and heart, and they will forever be entwined with me moving to Chapel Hill -- in a town where I knew no one, going to a "real home" as opposed to an apartment was a welcome respite. And the kids were always awesome. 

I've been lucky, in that respect -- I've always found really good families to work with. E and J in NJ were great, and I was actually their son's first ever babysitter! I would fall asleep on their comfy couch after putting H to bed when they would go out for dinner. M and J will always be in my life in some way, as well as their kids B and C...I have so many memories of being with them, and in many ways, they helped me get through that year. The family in my neighborhood is wonderful, and I love spending time with the kids, K and C. When I stay overnight, it doesn't even feel like work. And this new family I am babysitting for, the parents are really chill, very nice, and the kids are wonderful. The 4 year old says the funniest things - yesterday he asked me, "Are you a mom? Are you grown up?" As if the two were synonymous. Having car seats and booster seats in my car is not a novelty. It doesn't even faze me anymore. 

Of course, it's not always pink and blue and smiles and bubbles. Like today, for instance. It is HOT here right now. Like, in the 90s hot by noon. And the kids didn't really have much of a nap, so both were overtired, I think there's some sibling rivalry going on (at 10 months and 4 years), and the 4 year old fell and scraped his knee when we were playing outside. So after some damage control (cleaning the scrape and attaching a Spider-Man bandaid, then eating a Fudgsicle), we decided to stay indoors. And then the 4 year old hit the 10 month old....by the time the parents came home, I must have looked as worn out as I felt, because they joked about how I should go home and have a glass of wine. But kids will be kids, I guess. It happens. It reinforced to me just how hard taking care of kids really is. 

I am exhausted. That bottle - er, glass - of wine sounds really good right about now.