Today when I picked N up from school at 11:20 he told me that we had to go home and turn the tv on. I had already been watching inauguration coverage on my laptop while playing with B all morning, and had the radio on the in car, so I was more than happy to oblige. In the car I asked N if he knew why today was so important, and he really didn't. He understood that Barack Obama was becoming president, but couldn't grasp the historic occasion. He is only 4 after all. I did not know what to explain to him. I did not want to introduce the idea of racial struggle to him. I do not want to introduce the idea to him that there is or ever has been a thought that people who look different from him are in any way substantively different. I do not want to introduce the idea of "different". As it turns out, I couldn't explain anything any way. I got all choked up and could only get out something like, "just try to remember today."
I wish I could have been in DC for what I hear called Obama-stock and Barack-apalooza. I am so thankful that not only am I alive for this historic day and old enough to understand its importance. But more than that I am thankful that kids who are not old enough to grasp this moment will grow up in a country with a new ethos of hope and equality. I pray the ethos comes to reflect reality and not just the dream.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
A Day In the Life
Nannying always seemed like a semi-glamorous job to me. I mean, they make movies about it! Mary Poppins, Uptown Girls, The Nanny Diaries, Nanny McPhee. They would never make a movie about Nanny Mo though, because life for this nanny simply isn't that interesting. Sure, the kids do cute things and the most unexpected things come out of their mouths, and by the end of the day my hair seems to always be a mess for some reason, but really it is very routine. So routine, in fact, that I sometimes lose track of what day it is and almost forget to watch Bones. Nevertheless I feel inspired to let you, my few but faithful readers, in on the goings on of my nanny life, if for no other reason than I seem to have spoken to very of you in person or over the phone in the past few months/years.
6:30am: Get up
8:00am: Go upstairs (my room is in the walk-out basement). Get N ready to go out the door with his mom to go to pre-school (shoes, coat, etc.)
8:15-10:30: Play with B, put in laundry, empty dishwasher, change diapers, tidy up. On Wednesdays we mix it up and spend the morning at Target or the mall while the house is getting cleaned.
10:30: I usually have an errand to run, or I get coffee.
11:15: Pick N up from preschool, commiserate and plan playdates with fellow nanny.
11:30-12:30: Make lunch, while kids play, tell N to get off B, kids eat, put N down for nap, give B a bottle and put her down for nap.
12:30-2:00: Either enjoy my lunch and a book and cup of tea, or fold laundry and tidy up and do dishes, or give N warnings to be quiet or tell him that no he cannot get up yet, or some combination thereof.
2:00: Get N up, play or do a craft or make cookies.
3:00: B wakes up, all play together (aka tell N repeatedly to share).
3:30: snack for N, bottle for B, get kids ready for afternoon activities.
4:00: head for Taekwando, church choir, piano lesson (other seasons it's soccer and swim lessons) or a playdate or the library, depending on the day.
5:15: return from afternoon activity, bath for N, finish up whatever laundry or dishes or tidying up weren't done earlier.
5:30: play in the living room, the Parents start getting home from work, making dinner, etc. Chaos ensues as kids want parental attention.
6:00: Get N settled watching a show, B playing independently, then retreat to my room until dinner.
7:00ish: Eat dinner with the Fam
evening: watch TV or go to Borders to work on German.
10:00: beddy-by time.
Fascinating, eh? The stuff of Hollywood! Actually, I just watched Nanny Diaries, and the very beginning of it with all the Upper East Side moms clobbering Annie who is the caddillac of nannies because she is white, college educated, and perpetually single, is pretty accurate. The part where she instantly connects with the little monster child and suddenly he is perfectly well behaved is a load of crap.
6:30am: Get up
8:00am: Go upstairs (my room is in the walk-out basement). Get N ready to go out the door with his mom to go to pre-school (shoes, coat, etc.)
8:15-10:30: Play with B, put in laundry, empty dishwasher, change diapers, tidy up. On Wednesdays we mix it up and spend the morning at Target or the mall while the house is getting cleaned.
10:30: I usually have an errand to run, or I get coffee.
11:15: Pick N up from preschool, commiserate and plan playdates with fellow nanny.
11:30-12:30: Make lunch, while kids play, tell N to get off B, kids eat, put N down for nap, give B a bottle and put her down for nap.
12:30-2:00: Either enjoy my lunch and a book and cup of tea, or fold laundry and tidy up and do dishes, or give N warnings to be quiet or tell him that no he cannot get up yet, or some combination thereof.
2:00: Get N up, play or do a craft or make cookies.
3:00: B wakes up, all play together (aka tell N repeatedly to share).
3:30: snack for N, bottle for B, get kids ready for afternoon activities.
4:00: head for Taekwando, church choir, piano lesson (other seasons it's soccer and swim lessons) or a playdate or the library, depending on the day.
5:15: return from afternoon activity, bath for N, finish up whatever laundry or dishes or tidying up weren't done earlier.
5:30: play in the living room, the Parents start getting home from work, making dinner, etc. Chaos ensues as kids want parental attention.
6:00: Get N settled watching a show, B playing independently, then retreat to my room until dinner.
7:00ish: Eat dinner with the Fam
evening: watch TV or go to Borders to work on German.
10:00: beddy-by time.
Fascinating, eh? The stuff of Hollywood! Actually, I just watched Nanny Diaries, and the very beginning of it with all the Upper East Side moms clobbering Annie who is the caddillac of nannies because she is white, college educated, and perpetually single, is pretty accurate. The part where she instantly connects with the little monster child and suddenly he is perfectly well behaved is a load of crap.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Fiscal Responsibility
I've never really had much in the way of finances with which to be responsible. I've followed the pattern of work hard, save for a trip, close the savings account and go on the trip. Now that I have completed 7 months of gainful employment, but without being very responsible with my income beyond putting over 1/2 toward loan payments, I've decided 2009 is the year of the budget. I'll be continuing to put 1/2 my income toward loans, 1/6 into savings, something trying to approach a tithe toward my church and mission support, then there is health insurance, cell phone, and odds and ends. Whatever is left after I do all that and drink coffee more responsibly (like maybe not driving through the coffee hut more than once each day) will go into a travel fund. I don't have any trips planned for 2009 yet, but we all know I'll make it happen. Honestly, I live in someone else's house where all my food, car and gas are provided. It simply should not be that difficult to stop spending money like it's going out of style.
Oh, and I had an awesome time in CO. Here are a few reasons why:
Oh, and I had an awesome time in CO. Here are a few reasons why:
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