A Letter to the Kids I Nanny for,

Oh sweet little ones, there have been a lot of you. Another little hand I have held pops into my head each line I write. You are so special. You are a handful. You are sticky and you have ruined me for life.

I would be lying if I did not admit that there have been days so long, you had me swearing I never want children. Those days do not last though because you are cute. Which I am convinced is God's way of protecting you from being kicked out of your home because you can be really annoying. I would not crawl behind couches and under beds searching endlessly for your special, cannot sleep without 'gway ell-fent' that actually turned out to be a brown hippo if you were not so cute. You guys are grueling and exhausting, so count your cute little blessing that you have big brown puppy dog eyes.

You little tornados should be passed out in High Schools everywhere. Keeping you alive should be a prerequisite for passing any sex ed course. You have certainly given me a crash course for life with little humans.Through you I have learned a great deal about life, love and how to get spit up out of just about anything.

I could write a book on the lessons you teach and ruthlessly test on with no warning. In fact, just the other night I learned that "Can I sleep with you, Emmy?" translates directly to "Can I sleep in the middle of your bed, kick you all night and wake you up at 5:50 am to tell you I'm bored but I'm cute so you will always say yes"Again, your cuteness saves you. 

The first lesson I learned after living under the same roof of little children; peeing without an audience is a luxury. Locking the door will not stop you. Asking politely for you to wait might as well be spoken in Spanish. I have learned that I will save us all a lot of trouble and crying if I just open the fruit snacks, tie your shoes and then resume peeing.

You are gross, just so you know. You stink and stick you hands in your underwear and refuse to bathe. You have covered me with poop, you have spit up in my hair but I forgave you because your eyes melts me and you hugs change me. You taught me that all of the hugs, cuddles and giggles make up ten fold for the poop, slobber and tears.

You have shown me how fast time flies and that the mopping and the dishes and the crumbs can wait. I am learning that when given the choice always choose to dance in the kitchen, to read another story and cuddle in bed over mopping, cleaning and sweeping. Motherhood is mostly finding socks between couch cushions and washing spoons, anyway. There will always be dishes to do but there will not always be little boys who want to play Ninja Turtles. You grow up fast. You will not remember the sticky counters or finger prints on the fridge. You will remember the music and the silly dancing through the halls. You will remember that extra story and the cuddles that fill you with comfort until mommy returns.

You have taught me that kids will always ruin my plans and have no care for your preparation. No matter how ready I am the moment you arise WWIII will break out. No matter what I do the 20 minutes before leaving the house will always be the most chaotic of the day. Someone will always lose their backpack, have to pee or suddenly stop believing in shoes and absolutely refuse to put them on.

You proved to me that there is something in this earth that I would give up precious sleep for. There is something that will get me out of bed on my day off, and that something is your sweet hugs and little voice saying "I missed you!" I would give up sleep to hold you when you're feverish and scared and just out of mommy's reach. I have woken up early to secretly slip a special note into your lunch. I have stayed up late praying your adoption goes through. I love sleep but your little voices, hugs and kisses are sweet enough for me to give it up. But if you wake up before 5 am, please watch TV quietly while I finish my coffee.

Speaking of giving up things I never thought I would. Food. All you had to say was, "can I hab a wittle?" and I gave you my entire bowl of ice cream. Little one, if you were about two feet taller you would lose those little fingers you keep reaching onto my plate with but again, your cuteness has pulled you through. You have taught me that cookies taste better when you share them with those big brown begging eyes. Except sometimes they don't and sometimes I shove cookies into my mouth in the pantry when you are not looking.

You have shown me the nuances of taking care of little kids and I have come out alive, with plenty of stories. But above all, I am utterly amazed at how much a little tiny body can have me completely wrapped around their little fingers. I never knew how much love my heart could hold. You have taught me about love and patience but most importantly you have taught me that the tiniest hands in the world can hold my entire heart in them. Keep shining, continue being goofy and keep those adults in your life on your toes.

You are so special. You are a handful. You have changed me, molded me and stretched me. You are sticky and you have ruined me for life. 

Thank you, sweet little one. 

Christmas Tree Craft

A staple characteristic of any nanny/babysitter is creativity or a pinterest account... or both. I have any different families, different ages and different kids. So I found a cute idea and adapted it for each kiddo. We made CHRISTMAS TREES!! Now that Thanksgiving is over, we can do Christmas crafts galore! This one is SUPER easy, minimal mess and frame-able.

 First, I cut out a tree from green construction paper and put it on a scrap piece without gluing it.  

This ten pack of Crayola washable paints are my favorite to use, it's the most vibrant. 

For my 6 year old friend, I gave her Q tips and let her go to town.

 For my 2 year old buddy, I let him finger paint the tree.  

(Finger Painted on left, Q tip on right)

For T I added the green/red dots around the edge for his big sister I let her do it. They turned out super cute and were SUPER easy! 

Then I let T go to town on the finger painting because mess are the BEST! 

Toddler Dictionary (Part one)

After spending any amount of time around a child you know they speak a language of their own. Todder-ese. A language which primary consists of crying, chanting and crayon hieroglyphics on your white walls. It is the hardest language in the world to learn as is consists of no common sense and constantly changing rules. I have begun to compile a list of toddler-ese definitions for your reference. However, the dictators of Toddlerland might decide to reconstruct their entire vocabulary come snack time, so this is probably useless.

 Words and meanings slightly modified. All come straight from the mouths of Toddlerland Residents. 

Dear Frazzled Grocery Store Mom,

Recently I was in line at the grocery store, behind me was a frazzled looking young mom. She had an infant in the front of the cart going clinically crazy about being in a car seat, a rather belligerent 2 year old throwing cans of soup at the candy display. Then were blood curdling screams that would give the HULK a run for his money coming from her pint sized princess clad preschooler. Mini Elsa was standing about 6 feet behind her mom yelling "DONT WEAVE MEEEEE MAAAAAAAHHHM" and mom calmly says, "then walk with me, I am getting I line." I hear her state under her breathe- "You don't understand if you don't have kids." I'm not sure who it was intended for but it's not the first time it's been implied that I have absolutely no possible clue what it could ever be like to even be in the same room as a child unless I have produced one in my own uterus. In some ways frazzled grocery store mom is right, being a parent is something that can only be fully understood by another parent. But in other ways she's so, so wrong. No, I do not understand fully, I don't have my own kids. I've never grown a life inside my own body. I've never given birth to said life. And I've never been put in charge of said life's growth and making sure said life doesn't die. No, I don't know the day in, day out challenges of life with loud, sticky and stubborn little people.

I don't understand it all but I've seen it. I've seen inside your home. I am your babysitter, your mothers helper, your nanny- Whichever title I took for your family. I've seen what your life is like. I've seen behind the scenes of the grocery store throw down. I know what happened leading up the point of complete and utter chaos in the walmart aisle. I don't understand, but I know; I know dressing your two year is similar to wrestling an octopus into a bag...with a baby on your hip. I know getting your squirming, screaming 8 month old in the car seat takes so much energy, the idea of an infant stray Jacket sounds less inhumane each time. I know the arguing and rationalizing it took to get your 5 year old out of a cow girl hat, a bathing shit and a tutu. I know that after wrestling her out of that she promptly picked out a princess dress so you gave in and thought "screw it, wear the Elsa dress." I know that having kids can sometimes feel like living with pint size dictators who eat your food and watch you while you pee. Do I understand it all? No. But do I see it? And do I know? Yes. I know it's hard. I know it's tiring. It's hard, mom. And you're doing fantastic job. Judging by the noise your kids are still alive- so kudos for that. And you're at the grocery at the grocery store- so obviously they get fed. They look moderately clean- so you bathe them at least sometimes. And they're cute too. No, frazzled grocery store mom, I may not Understand, but I see and I know- You're doing a good job, mom. Oh, and I know a great babysitter for next time you need to go to the store, give me a call.

Rashes, vomit, cat puke, dog poop.

And coffee.

lots and lots of coffee.

Lord, help us.

This is my "I've been up since 6 am with vomiting children" look. It's complete with the clothes I slept in, yesterday's make-up, the biggest coffee mug I could find, unbrushed teeth, and a smile. (because honestly, laughing is the only way to look at these situations.)

 

My friend and I are tag team babysitting, around the clock (give or take a night where the grand parents are sweeping in to save the day) until Monday when she heads to school and I head out to yet another nannying job. So far the weekend has been full of pee, poop, vomit, mac & cheese, and nerf gun battles. We're babysitting three boys, so the typical agenda, I guess.

 

I always leave these type of jobs with 2 things

1) A crap ton of funny stories

2) An overwhemling desire to call my mother and apologize for my entire childhood

 

Okay I'm kidding about that second one, kind of. Stay tuned if you want more tales from the poop, pee, and vomit diaries.

Today,

I realized:

I started a sentence with "Earlier, I was thawing breast milk"
I have a "mom" planner, with a spot for all of the kids, because I basically have 40 of them

I have maternity shorts I borrowed from a mama, they're comfortable!!

I wiped a nose with my sleeve and didn't think twice.

I said, "It's a good shirt because you can't see the spit up when I get hit with it."

 

 I'm the weirdest 19 year old. Ever.

Homemade Play Dough!

This is one of my FAVORITE crafts I've done with kids.

I made it a while back with a few of my favorite kiddos.

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
liquid food coloring

Directions:
1) Mix the dry ingredients in a medium sauce pan. (B loved pouring the stuff in the pan for me)
2) Mix the wet ingredients in a measuring cup.
**Some recipes say to mix the food coloring in measuring cup, I never do this because I seperate the dough after and color it instead of making a new batch for each color**
3) Pour the wet ingredients in until throughly mixed.
4) Put on medium heat and stir occasionally.
5 )Remove from heat when you see a skin (took like 4-5 minutes for us) and let it cool for a few minutes.
6) Remove from pan and kneed the dough
(This is when I seperate the dough and mix in the colors)
7) Give to the kids and let them have at it!!

Their mom said the kids played with it for hours at the table. We put it in ziplock bags and it lasted for months. It may even still be around, I didn't check last time I was home from school!!

Special.

If there's one things I learned from working with kids it's this: Your kids are so, so special.

They're special because:
They are so innocent.
They're full of love and life.
They're trusting and so very honest.
Stinky fingered hugs and slobbery kisses are.
The famous "EMILY'S HERE" at the sound of the doorbell
They say the most hilarious things.

They're special because...

They're special to you. They're more than special. They're maginficent, beautiful little things. They are your flesh and blood. Your life, and reason to live. They're the things they love most in this world. It amazes me how much parents love their children and they trust me with their children, with their flesh and blood. This is also something so special.

They're special to God. Isn't it Jesus who said, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." Matthew 18:10. God loves and cherishs children, because to him they are so, so special.

Your kids are so wonderful. They're loud, stinky, snotty-faced- poopy, sticky, funny, beautiful, cherished, wonder-filled and wonderful, special little human beings and I am so blessed to be apart of their lives.

"How much do you charge?"

I get asked this ALL the time! So here is the answer for both parents who ask and babysitters who need the answer.

Babysitters: I know asking for money is awkward. I always hate giving a price, especially when you don't know the financial situation of the family. You have to find a happy medium for both you and the family. However, be willing to be flexible. If one of 'your families' has an emergancy or a hard time don't be concerned with price as much. If you help them, and will most likely help you when they can AND you'll have another good job reference :)

Families: Be honest and up front with what you can afford. It will save for awkward situations.


I've come up with a basic system that almost always satisfies both parties. It is as follows:

1-2 kids: 6-7 an hour, or 45-50 for a whole day
3-4 kids: 8-9, 55-60 for a whole day
5+ kids: 10 an hour, 70+ for a whole day

Exceptions:
-If there is an infant always at a dollar an hour.
-If the kids are sleeping and shouldn't wake up, 5-6 an hour is PERFECTLY fine. I know this doesn't seem like alot, but I figure I'm getting paid to watch your TV.
-If the babysitter drives your kids or has a long drive to you add on 5-10 dollars.

I, however, was never very picky on price. I loved babysitting, so money wasn't much of an issue. I have even done it for free or cheap in certain circumstances. Now that I'm paying my own way through school I need to be more picky about my time. Every babysitter has a different financial situation, if you don't know it, ask! It will help explain a little bit about why a sitter has certain prices.

The number one rule when it comes to payment:

Always, always, always talk about it BEFORE having someone babysit for you.

Hope this helps :)