Guest Post: I'm the Nanny!

Those darned kids are teaching me stuff I never learned in school...

Now first off, this is my very first ever guest post. The rule of 'being nice to the new kid in class' applies here too! Secondly, after you're done reading this awesomely amazing (super nerdy) post, you have to go ask me a Q so i can give you an A. Easy enough right?

On the grown up side of the baby gate, a couple words about The Nanny ... for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (and a bunch of weeks a year) I am a nanny. In all the other hours of the day I am a sorority girl, a bookworm, a girlfriend, & an avid solo movie goer. My blog, The Nanny by Day, is my way of sticking with my love of writing, getting out all my bubbling emotions, and of course, keeping track of the adventures I have with the two little girls who run my life. 

So what's it like being a nanny? It's like being a mom. But, without the sleepless nights, the breastfeeding, the birthing, and the bills. Sounds like a pretty delightful time doesn't it? Most days, it is. Some days, it isn't. On mornings when I am met at the door by two smiling, excited girlies, I love my job. On mornings when I am met at the door by a chores list longer than my arm, or a little girl who only slept for two hours, or a 3 year old with an attitude worse than miranda from SATC, I still love my job. Just not as much. 

Q&A With A Nanny - Not Yours, Don't Worry!

One of the reasons I love Twitter (at shosized) is that I've made some random new friends. One of them is a very cool nanny from the Edmonton area (read her blog here) who's agreed to do a little Q&A for me.

So here's your chance to find out why some one would agree to look after your demon spawn for a living....

Email (shosized at hotmail dot com) or tweet (at shosized) me your questions by September 30th and stay tuned for the Answers Post!

Alberta's Best Mama Bloggers

The last two weeks have been tough. We've got K into his pre-K routine, but he's not loving it yet, and really, neither am I. As is typical for fall, work has ramped up too. On one hand, I love the energy and creativity when business and communications planning ramps up in the fall, but on the other hand, I am brain drained.

So, as you can see, the blogging has been slow. So has the tweeting. (You can find me @shosized) I've been working on keeping my head above the water of school calendar, birthdays, Halloween, bill payments, business plans, dry cleaning, baby food making, garden harvesting... ergh, that reminds me I've got to find out what the family & inlaw thanksgiving plans are...giving thanks...still have to write the thank you cards from Baby Girls party....where was I? Oh yes, drowning.

I did get a life preserver though, a little bit of sunshine that reminded me how much I love this blog, love having this outlet, and that there are many many of us in the same boat out there.

I made the top 5 in Modern Mama Musing's list of Alberta's Best Mama Bloggers!

I really recommend checking out the list, each blogger is funny, frank and worth reading! Thanks Modern Mama! And thanks readers! xoxo!

PS: Baby Girl is now crawling. This makes working at home very very easy. Simple, really.
PPS: Yes, I am now using my prego-pillow as desk leg padding.

Pre-K for my Baby K

We took K to his first day of pre-Kindergarten today. It was "kinda hard." His words. My feelings.

With all the books, puzzles, crafts, and a brand-new playground, I don't think the day was all that hard for K. It was a short morning of singing and playing with his best bud S. He got to use "zissors," which Mummy never allows at home.* And, he had us in tow to help with indoor shoes and cubbies.

It was definitely hard for me.

It was hard to not be furious with K's dad when he mentioned, the night before, all the things K needed for school. (More so, since I had had to miss the orientation meeting due to work.) It was hard to get us organized to be clothed, fed and out the door on time, even with Dear A to watch the baby girl. Most of all, it was hard to see my little baby boy at the playground surrounded by older kids on recess. He looked so tiny.

The next class is un-parented. I think it might be "kinda hard" on both of us.

*In my defense, we have stainless-steel-chop-through-a-raw-dead-bird scissors, so its not like I'm being crazy paranoid.

A Life Without

Dear A's back from holidays tomorrow. She's been off for three weeks. The first two weeks we were on a family mostly staycation. We missed Dear A but it was lovely to spend time together, sleeping in and goofing around. Last week we were both back at work, and juggling childcare. It was a challenging, and enlightening  dry-run for when, eventually, we are without a nanny.

So far I've realized:

Without a nanny, I will be at least 10lbs heavier. Since she's been gone, I've gained 4lbs. Chasing after my kids does burn calories but it's counter to the large amounts of crap food we eat when I don't have time to cook properly. And with Dear A, I can usually find 30 minutes to get some form of exercise, without having to pay for a gym with drop in childcare.

Without a nanny, the dog would be at least 10lbs heavier. Because Dear A can help manage the kids breakfasts, our dog gets at least a few minutes for a walk each morning. 


Without a nanny, my house would be at least 10lbs heavier... due to all the dust and dog and cat hair it accumulates daily. When Dear A's here, the house get swept every day, and dusted every few. With us... well lets just say even the dog is sneezing right now. I'm working on the child labour but neither one of them is there yet!

Without a nanny, my hubby'd probably be 10 lbs lighter because we'd never get any alone time so he'd probably be all about the working out etc. so he could have an affair. Well, maybe not quite, but we'd definitely get a lot less time together to re-connect and keep our marriage going.

All in all, a life without our nanny would be a lot heavier... and a lot less.

F*CK

Here's what happens when you have to beg and borrow childcare:

Tonight, K told me about "nuts."

"Its a Shhh bad word," that so-and-so's friend told him. I didn't get a clear picture of what else went down (talking to my 3 year old often reminds of my attempts to get subway directions in Turkey) but the gist implied an off colour conversation, and possibly a demonstration, with some older kids at the park. This was Day 2 of what is essentially an all week play date, because Dear A is away, and we both had to work. And now I'm left feeling annoyed, angry, and guilty.

I'm waffling between taking the next two days off to take care of him myself (which would wreak havoc on work) or having an uncomfortable and possibly ineffective (due to the hazy understanding of what really went down) conversation with the two nannies who are supervising the play date this week. Don't get me wrong, I think both are fantastic caregivers. I just think maybe the huge group care wasn't the best solution. Or maybe I'm just feeling guilty for not being at the park to help my kid navigate a situation that made him uncomfortable.

And so... F*CK!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Top 5 "You Didn't Know You Needed" Items for New Moms

If you've looked at my blog roll (on the side) or a few of my previous posts, you know that I'm a Yummy Mummy Club fan. This week they're sharing some Top 5 lists: Top 5 Purse Essentials When You Have Kids, Top 5 Yummy Summer Reads, which I thought were great.

Inspired I thought I'd share my own Top 5 "You Didn't Know You Needed" Items for a New Mom.

Now, I'm not thinking about big baby gifts here, I mean, the 5 things that every new mom needs to keep in her purse/diaper bag and wouldn't probably think to buy for herself. Gathered from the zillion times I've thought to myself, "Ergh. I forgot..."