This Week in Words

How do I adequately put this week into words? Hmm....

Well, I'll start with the big stuff.

1. This was my first full week or watching my friend Jade's kids Chloe and Bailey. I volunteered to do the job a little over a month ago and since Jade's schedule just got normal, this just happened to be my first FULL week on the job. Having a few days here and there over the last month helped me adjust to get an idea of what three kids is like, get a little bit of a clue about behavior, daily schedules, etc. So, I felt prepared going into the week.

While there were some curve balls thrown at me (a fussy/teething baby one day... and a miserable, overly tired and didn't want to listen toddler the other), for the most part, things went well. I'll be watching them a full week and half weeks alternating every other week from now until I decide it's too much. While I'm pretty sure I can handle it, I can already tell that my jealous son and I will relish in the days we have alone.

2. We've been doing (more) construction around the house. When we bought this house, we knew it would be a slow and costly project. It seems like every day the priorities get switched around. The bathroom that was a "must" before Jude was born now doesn't matter and is still unfinished... but his toy room was completed in a matter of weeks. The dining room electric was something I HAD to have finished, but now... I'm willing to hold off until we get a new panel...

So, as is normal, one day we decided there was something that HAD to be done. We had a very 70's style 'desk' (or as I liked to call it 'dump zone') in our kitchen. Essentially we would throw crap on it and it just took up space and caused clutter. We knew it HAD to go. So, one day a couple weeks ago, Ryan decided to rip it down... and we didn't stop there. We also decided that the other work on that same wall "might as well" get done too. We needed to make a bigger opening for our fridge and smoosh two pantries into one. So we decided to rip down walls and start a drywall project. Unfortunately Ryan's work schedule also kicked into high gear at that time. So, it got puched back and pushed back until Christmas got closer and I got more and more frustrated. The contents of our pantries were spread through the house, the drywall dust was on every surface and I wanted things kind-of put back together before we had people over for any holiday functions. So, this week we hung drywall, spackled, painted, hung shelves, organized food and dishes and even though we didn't finish, we did a TON of work to get the house looking decent. SHwoooo! All of that... with three kids.

3. I needed to get out of the house. There are a few reasons I needed to not stay in my 'work' clothes and toy around with our little project all day. Reason number one: one person in the house with 3 kids all 3 and under would be enough to make me go crazy. Reason number two: part of my 'promise-to-Jude-even-though-he-didn't-understand-the-promise" was that watching these two kids would not put a damper on the type of activities he and I regularly enjoyed. I pretty much decided that I would give the girls' parents notice if it started to interfere too much with the things that Jude and I did on a regular basis. Him getting out of the house, exploring and learning are very important to me... and there's not much that I would let compromise that. Reason number three: sitting around staring at the work that needed to be done frazzled me. Looking around at my house in total disarray was enough to make me go mad... so I needed to leave.

So, this week, we did a few things.

First, we did Stroller Rollers on Monday! This is becoming one of the programs I love to do most! I'm not sure why, because it's pretty basic... they walk around the park, point things out (usually the same types of things) and then you go home... but I love it. We were regularly going to Story Time at a local library on Monday's with a group of other moms I know. I thought for sure that story time would be one of my go-to activities for the winter, but I later realized that a scheduled outdoor program in the winter is JUST what we need! Being cooped up all day inside one place or another can eventually make you go crazy. This little bit of outdoorseyness is just what we need!

On Tuesday, we did storytime at the mall book store. Every Tuesday and Thursday they have a theme and this week's theme was Christmas books. Jude usually LOVES to read. We read all the time at home, repeat the same two or three books at least once a day, I know The Lorax word for word (ask my brother).... you get the picture. But for this particular storytime, Jude wanted nothing to do with it. Chloe on the other hand was loving it. She was participating in the story by answering the questions the reader had and just sucking it up. Bailey... well... she's a baby... and she did was baby's do best: just sit there.

Afterwards, I knew some friends would be going to a local Tot Skate program and so I decided I'd give it a try. I had first heard about it a few months earlier and just really had little interest in it at all. I'm not sure why. But, the more I thought about it, I was pretty sure Chloe would love it... so we went. I was right. Once again he was watching the instructor, following the steps and just enjoying herself. Jude on the other hand was having a good old time with his friends, scooting along and just going at his own pace.

Finally, the last activity of the week was a little holiday party at our house for some of Jude's kid friends. We ordered pizza, (tried to) make some crafts, took some group shots and just enjoyed the day together. All the kids wore something a little festive and they all played so well together.

All in all, my first full week as nanny was mostly tolerable and at other times downright enjoyable. I look forward to doing more things this winter and really exploring other things to do around us.

****pictures to follow****