Alright, let me introduce myself. My name is Amanda and I am a waitress, Nanny and volunteer in the Emergency Room. I work all the time and I am always exhausted. I started this blog to keep in touch, tell great stories (kids are wild) and give advice in whatever way I can. Today is July 14, 2011 and my lesson learned today is: Be Flexible!
Lately I've been working at the Diner during their lunch time (BTW: I watch 6 Kids!) so they've been watched by my 15 year old sister for the few hours so I can waitress. As a thank you to them for being so flexible and cooperative I planned a Carnival Day! We dressed up super silly and had TONS of carival games to play. So I'm standing out in the heat of New Jersey having a whipped cream pie thrown at me when the kids all start complaining. "I'm sticky." "I'm hot." "I'm tired." "I want to go in the pool." At that moment, my tolerance for their attitudes dropped to a microscopic level. Instead of being fun level headed fun babysitter, I became crochety mean pessimistic babysitter. I took them in the pool as my way of swallowing my pride and accepting carnival day was not what they expected only to find the complaining continued.
At this point, I am freezing (I hate cold water!) and being dragged around the pool. This fun "puppet" game lasted hm... about 30 minutes before they all began jumping on me and pulling me in different directions and dunking me! I got out of the pool and began monitoring from a distance when the kids all started arguing some more! Tired of their blaring noises, I called them out of the pool and gave them quiet time. Quiet time started after I brushed their hair, changed their clothes and tucked them all in on the couch bed. They all relaxed to watch Freaky Friday and I got a break to begin my blogging!
My expectations for today were that everyone would get along and love everything I planned. Perhaps some praise for my awesome-ness would be nice! Their expectations were that they got to do what they wanted and had fun while going crazy! Although I was stressed and exhausted all day, the kids are in the next room talking about how they loved the carnival. As a matter of fact, after I wrote the 1st paragraph, they called me over "Aunt Mandi, Aunt Mandi". I closed my eyes and followed as they led me to a room that they had picked up! The sofa-bed was away, the blankets were folded, and they even picked up all the pillows after quiet time!
My lesson today was to be flexible. Although things did not go the way I anticipated, the goal was accomplished. The kids had a great time and enjoyed every second of it! The kids even learned a lesson to: Be Appreciative! I haven't heard so many thank you's from kids EVER! All in all, a pretty successful Nanny-ing day!
Until tomorrow,
Amanda
