I am the world’s greatest babysitter. Especially after having the fire department called based on my cooking skills. (And no, they weren’t called to come join us for lunch.)

On Monday, while I was watching my regular rowdy rascals, I went to the kitchen a little later than normal in search of ingredients for peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. Much to my dismay, after already telling the kids I was making what I thought would be a quick lunch, I discovered a lack of bread in the house. While rummaging through the cupboard for something that sounded tasty, I came across a box of Bisquick.

Oh, how I love Bisquick pancakes. I like to think I’m okay at making them. My dad’s the master at making ones the size of your plate or larger. His ability goes so far as to our giving him a giant pancake flipper for Christmas a couple years ago. It looked a lot like this.

So, in honor of my father, and in full knowledge that the children like eating pancakes, I set about on the adventure of making lunch with two kids banging on the table and yelling that they’re hungry and a third screaming just to prove she could be as loud as her older siblings.

The first pancake went well. I would say it was perfect. Round in shape, a wonderful shade of brown on either side, yummy smelling. In order to calm the storm, and not to start a fight, I split the pancake in half and cut it up so that the kids couldn’t notice quite as easily.

I’d thrown the second in the pan to cook while I was getting the first ready for the kids to eat. Unfortunately, I’d had the heat on just a little (or a lot) too high, and by the time I looked back over at the batter, the top was hardly cooked, and the bottom was smoking just a lovely shade of, oh, black.

Having run into this issue on occasion before, I decided to at least cook the opposite side in order to scrape off some of the pancake to eat. It was mine anyways.

I looked around at that time, searching for a smoke detector to wave smoke away from in hopes it wouldn’t go off. When I didn’t find one, I thought it odd, but I figured I just didn’t recognize it. I didn’t, however, have the common sense to open a window.

As a result, the little smoke there was floated and found the ADT smoke alarm, setting it off in an awful screaming beep and alerting the security company to my follies, who in turn called the fire department before calling the house. After I explained the situation, they called off the alarm to the fire department. An inside source told me they even announced to everyone listening that “the babysitter burnt the pancakes.”

Great, now everyone in town knows of my mad cooking skills.

It wasn’t for another hour that I had the opportunity to eat my own pancake, once all the kids were in bed for their naps or “rest times”.

On the upside, the kids and I made a fort out of a giant blanket and the kitchen chairs later on that afternoon to make up for the lunchtime chaos. It was a hit, and even I momentarily forgot about the stress.

Looking back, I find it amusing that the kids continued to sit quietly at the table, munching away at the first pancake while all of this went on. The only time any of them seemed distressed was when they ran out of pancake, not when they heard the alarm go off. I wonder if Mommy has this issue often.

Last Friday I went to Pastor Steven’s house to babysit his 3 little kids…

Yup, BABYSIT the kids. Hard to believe huh? Well, I love kids for your info. Besides I had fun.

Was suppose to go for this meeting called “2close 2soon” for dating couples but I wasn’t able to since my “other-half” had to conduct some training for trainers at her working place.

The kids have their personal favorite game? Hide and seek, which I find funny coz they count from 1 to 100? so its like…1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, 100. hahaha… Plus, they like hiding in the same places =P

Built some railway tracks with the boy, watched a cartoon with them, had brunch and yes played this really funny game which Yu Xuan wanted to play.

She was like this princess and everyone had to find something to please her. So if she wants shiny stuff, we must bring her shiny stuff. If she wants a special toy, she must get a special toy, etc etc. If she likes it, we are rewarded with a sticker “Strawberry Shortcake” Yay?!?!? =P hehehe Well she liked it =)

For all those macho men out there, here’s Strawberry Short Cake… hahaha

Below are my four stickers that she stuck in my shirt… hehe..

Hmmm… what did I get from this experience? Well for starters, its not easy to babysit. It takes a lot of love and the keyword… PATIENCE.

I remember growing up… my parents, aunties and uncles would say that I was a good Kid. Kinda quiet. (yeah yeah… laugh your heads off)

But when I became a teenager, I was my parents biggest problem. I was reading in facebook a comment made by a mother stating that she had a nightmare raising her daughter in her teenage years… hehe.. normal?!?!

Don’t you praise God for the love that He has for us. Though we may grow in age, He still looks at us as His little children, loving us unconditionally regardless of the blunders we have made in life.

I know I screwed up a lot of times but I know He is patient, gracious and merciful.

I am forgiven and I am loved.

Today, know that our heavenly Dad loves you!

Drei oder vier Tage Kangaroo Island waren ursprünglich geplant, daraus sind im Endeffekt fast vier Wochen geworden. Doch gestern haben wir die Insel endgültig verlassen. Zum Glück wurde uns der Abschied nicht allzu schwer gemacht, denn in unseren letzten Nacht kam ein Sturzbach nach dem anderen vom Himmel geregnet und der Wind ging so sehr, dass wir dachten, unsere Hütte fliegt weg. Die Nacht haben wir heil überstanden – aber das Schlimmste stand uns erst noch bevor: die Fährüberfahrt.

Die See war so wild und rau, dass ich befürchtet hab, wir würden jeden Moment kentern. 45 Minuten Achterbahnfahrt – und ich übertreibe nicht! Mr. Bean hat uns aber im Endeffekt gerettet. Wie gebannt haben wir auf den Bildschirm gestarrt, um bloß nicht aus dem Fenster schauen zu müssen. Dummerweise saß aber zwischen TV und mir eine kleine Asiatin, die die Kotztüte nicht nur gehalten, sondern auch gefüllt hat, was meinen Versuch, selbst nicht seekrank zu werden, natürlich ungemein erschwert hat. Aber: Wir haben es geschafft und waren glücklicher denn je, als wir endlich wieder festen Boden unter den Füßen hatten.

Kangaroo Island ist nun also abgeschlossen und es wird Zeit, ein Fazit zu ziehen: Wir hatten am Snelling Beach eine super Zeit, haben wundervolle Menschen kennengelernt und unser erstes Geld verdient! Unser größtes Projekt, die Küche neu zu streichen, haben wir erfolgreich abgeschlossen. Es war ganz schön harte Arbeit, hat aber auch ne Menge Spaß gemacht. Und natürlich konnten wir in den vergangenen drei Wochen unser Englisch weiter verbessern. Wir kennen jetzt sämtliches Vokabular zum Thema Putzen, Garten- und Malerarbeit

Und Thomas hat eine ganz neue Erfahrung gemacht. Während ich am letzten Abend bei einem Dinner in der Küche geholfen und Canapés vorbereitet und serviert hab, war es Thomas’ Job, daheim auf die beiden Kinder aufzupassen. Der dreijährige Ollie hat sich ganz brav hingelegt und geschlafen, nachdem Thomas ihn bettfertig gemacht und ihm eine Geschichte vorgelesen hat – Baby Jesse hingegen erforderte sein ganzes Babysittergeschick. Sogar auf den Ernstfall – Windelwechseln – wurde er vorbereitet. Aber zum Glück trat der nicht ein. Allerdings wollte das Baby partout nicht schlafen – erst, nachdem Mama Lisa noch mal kam und ihn an die Brust gelegt hat, ist er selig eingeschlummert. Einen entspannten Abend hatte Thomas danach allerdings immer noch nicht. Denn kurz danach ist der Strom im Haus ausgefallen und den Rest des Abends saß er im Dunkeln – zumindest so lange, bis Lisa heimkam und sich Thomas zur Dinnerparty gesellen konnte, wo wir unseren letzten Abend ganz entspannt bei Wein und Bier ausklingen lassen haben.

Im Endeffekt waren diese fast vier Wochen mehr Urlaub für uns als der ganze normale Backpackeralltag. Am Snelling Beach hatten wir unser eigenes kleines Reich, jeden Tag eine warme Dusche, eine kleine Küche und jeden Morgen frisch gemahlenen Kaffee aus der Maschine Und wir hatten einen Ofen, in dem wir Kuchen und Plätzchen backen konnten – die allerdings nicht mal zwei Tage später restlos aufgefuttert waren! Dabei sollten sie uns ein wenig auf die Weihnachtszeit einstimmen – wenn das so schon so schwer hier ist – bei Sonnenschein und unter Palmen. Aber nun gut, ist halt auch wieder eine neue Erfahrung…

Friday, November 27th, 2009 | 5:31 am

I had to babysit some random kids. They had about a hundred transformer dolls.

Over the years I have had a slew of jobs. I can’t say they are the most strange jobs ever, but the things people pay me to do are often out of the ordinary. I started out as a babysitter. I remember the first time someone hired me to babysit. My uncle and aunt asked me to sit in the basement apartment of my aunts’ parents house. There were other people upstairs, and my young cousin was asleep. I was 13. I fell asleep before my aunt and uncle got home, but the baby was fine all night. In the morning, I slept straight through her cries. I have since become a light sleeper, especially when I am responsible for children through the night.

I worked in a day camp for five summers. It was in someone’s basement, and the campers were not older than 2 1/2 years. I loved that job. It was over at 12:30 and I had the rest of the day to do whatever I wanted, which often meant sitting in my room doing nothing, but still I was free.

I have worked for my father in a real estate firm (hated being in a corporate setting). I was once a runner in the jewelry district (my boss was an ass). I carpooled instead of the moms (such cute kids!). I was a homework helper (I may never want to help another kid with homework for as long as I live). Some people called me their Mother’s helper. I helped out in after school programs (one of which was the first and only job I got fired from.) I was an assistant in a Mommy and me.

This year I had the weirdest of all. First, I took a child to a Mommy and Me music class. I was really the only adult there that didn’t have a husband and at least one child. Some of the others knew that I wasn’t her mom, either knowing the child and her mom or knowing who I was. The ones that didn’t know eventually figured it out. I am not sure if the music teacher liked the fact that I was there, but she dealt with it. I’m pretty glad that job is over. I loved the kid, but never really felt comfortable as the sore thumb.

The other job I had this year is a bit more long-winded in explanation. I went to a school to watch two children from the time they came in around 8:15 until school started at 9. They generally live near school, but were fixing their house and were staying by their maternal grandparents in another borough, until the house was complete. If their dad brought them to school (at 8, there is an older child who started then) I would hang with them. Some of the administration had no idea what I was doing there, what the kids were doing there that early, but it wasn’t as uncomfortable. I played many games of tic-tac-toe with the five-year old boy. The two-year old girl was content to run around the immediate area.

Today, I took five kids bowling at Chelsea Piers. I met the family three years ago, when the youngest was my camper. The mom needed a babysitter and I sold myself for the job. I loved him, he really was my favorite camper. I got close with the older kids too. I worked as their homework helper, went to their science fairs, and took them for ice cream.

They were really so well behaved today (and in general). Three were siblings, the oldest a 12-year-old girl, then her 10-year-old brother and finally the five-year old boy. Their two cousins came too. Two girls 12 and 10. They are friends and cousins and get along well together. They are sweet to the youngest, helping him and including him in whatever they do. I loved just watching them interact with each other.

We spent a fortune. Okay, maybe not a fortune, but for three hours we spent $150 dollars. They bowled one game (I came in last) and played a few arcade games ($1 tokens!) and then we left. We each got a drink, and the kids ate french fries. I wasn’t so keen on going this morning when I woke up, but I ended up having a great time.

Je fais partie d’une catégorie de femmes dont je ne sais pas si elle est répandue ou non. La catégorie des filles uniques dont 90% des cousins vivaient sous d’autres latitudes et qui a réussi à se rendre à l’âge de 32 ans non seulement sans avoir de bébé elle-même mais sans qu’aucune de ses amies proches ne devienne mère non-plus. Au résultat je fais partie de la catégorie de femmes de 32 ans qui n’a jamais eu à s’occuper d’un tout petit bébé, jamais.

Mais une des données de mes statistiques a changé le mois dernier. Une amie a accouché de son premier enfant. Eh oui.
Gros bouleversements dans ma tête à l’annonce de sa grossesse ansi qu’à l’annonce de l’arrivée du petit nouveau. C’était effectivement la première amie qui soit de ma génération qui attire mon attention sur le fait que j’ai 32 ans et que je n’ai toujours pas d’enfant. Inutile d’en dire plus vous imaginez bien la petite crise existentielle que j’ai traversée.

Il y a deux jours je dînais chez mon amie et elle m’expliquait ses craintes quant à prendre une babysitter qu’elle ne connaît pas pour garder son petit chou. Je lui ai répondu, en pensant sincèrement chaque mot de ce que je disais: “C’est dommage que je n’aie aucune expérience avec les bébés, je t’aurais offert de le garder.”

Sachant donc la catégorie dans laquelle je me trouve, vous imaginez bien ma surprise mon effroi quand la maman personne complètement inconsciente me répond qu’elle non-plus il y a un mois n’avait jamais eu d’expérience avec les bébés, que ça venait tout seul, et qu’elle aurait vraiment confiance si je le gardais. J’ai souri me suis étouffée avant d’accepter, me disant que de toutes façons, à cette idée saugrenue, c’est le papa qui allait s’étouffer et remettre les choses à leur place. Mais non.

Le lendemain, je suis donc partie à 22H00, nounou apprentie, pour prendre mon poste et apprendre en moins de quinze minutes ce que j’aurais aimé pouvoir étudier pendant trois semaines, avant de me retrouver toute seule dans une maison avec un petit être qui, à moins que je m’en occupe bien, ne survivra pas.

J’apprends donc à changer une couche, à chauffer les biberons, à ne pas m’inquiéter systématiquement parce qu’il fait “iii” ou “aaa”, et voilà, l’aventure est lancée. Mon amie croyait avoir le temps de lui donner son biberon avant de partir, mais le petit rigolo a décidé de se réveiller alors que le taxi attendait déjà devant la maison. Je me suis donc retrouvée avec le petit être dans les bras et le biberon à la main. Quand la porte s’est refermée derrière mon amie je peux vous dire… je crois que je ne me suis jamais sentie aussi seule au monde. La première idée qui me soit venue doit vaguement ressembler à quelque chose comme: “Ne meurs pas dans mes bras s’il-te-plaît.”

Alors je dois dire que de passer quatre heures comme ça, ce fut un événement. Un événement au cours duquel j’ai dû faire face à de nombreuses et différentes angoisses. Des angoisses comme:
Est-ce que cette tête ça veut dire qu’il est en pleine dépression ou il ne se rend pas compte de ce qu’il fait? Est-ce que cette tête ça veut dire qu’il est en train d’avoir la peur de sa vie ou est-ce que le fait qu’il enchaîne sur une grimace comique ça annule tout? Alors qu’il est en train de téter le biberon et qu’il s’arrête net et ne bouge plus, c’est qu’il s’est subitement endormi en mangeant ou bien qu’il est mort? Pourquoi il sourit en coin comme ça? Qu’est-ce qu’il regarde juste derrière moi fixement alors qu’il n’y a personne ici? Pourquoi il m’observe comme ça il ne m’aime pas? EST-CE QUE LE HOQUET ÇA PEUT TUER UN NOURRISSON? Quand il fait une bulle est-ce que la prochaine étape c’est l’étouffement? Devenir tout rouge c’est synonyme d’agonie? Est-ce qu’il se rend compte qu’il est mon premier bébé et qu’il se dit “Je suis pas dans la merde..”?  Est-ce que je dois changer le film à la télé parce qu’il y a des coups de feux dedans? Je vais baisser le son quand même. Ah ben j’entends plus rien. Au moment du rot, quand on le met vertical et que la tête s’enfonce dans les épaules, est-ce que ça arrête de s’enfoncer à un moment? Quand je change sa couche, le temps qu’il a les fesses à l’air et qu’il éternue, est-ce que ça veut dire qu’il va attraper une pneumonie? Bon je le rhabille ou cas où.

Voyez…

Mais bon. Bien évidemment, au-delà de tout ça, ce que je retiens surtout c’est une impression extraordinaire d’être tout d’un coup assez grande pour vivre ça. Assez grande pour être responsable de la survie d’un petit être démuni. Assez grande pour m’occuper à 100% de quelqu’un d’autre que de moi-même – au moins pendant quatre heures, c’est déjà un début

Puis il y a eu le fait d’être face au plus grand des possibles. Face à quelqu’un qui n’a encore jamais rien dit, jamais rien fait, qui n’a pas encore fait d’erreurs, qui n’a pas encore perdu de temps… quelqu’un qui a encore une chance de devenir quelqu’un de parfait et de faire les choses bien. Je sais bien qu’il deviendra aussi quelqu’un avec ses défauts et ses qualités, mais c’est juste le fait d’être là, à ce moment précis où cette théorie de perfection potentielle  existe encore. J’ai trouvé ça magique.

Et pour finir le sentiment de joie immense quand on se rend compte que ce petit être décide qu’à tel moment, il se sent mieux dans vos bras que tout seul dans son petit lit; qu’il pleure quand il est allongé mais qu’il cesse de pleurer et s’endort dès que vous le prenez. Ça rassure sur soi-même. On se dit que si on arrive à faire ça, un petit truc qui semble aussi simple mais qui au final est si énorme, c’est qu’on doit avoir du bon en soi…
Sans compter la confiance témoignée par les deux parents en me laissant ce à quoi ils tiennent le plus au monde…

Oui. Je dois dire que grâce à cette petite soirée pouponnage,  je me suis levée un peu plus grande et un peu plus fière de moi ce matin.

I was with Chris in our local shopping centre. We were meeting up with his mom because we had said we’d look after his little brother for the day. He seemed really happy to see us but Chris’ mom didn’t look well. She looked like she was quite ill. We brought Chris’ little brother into a big department store where everyone liked to hang out.

Chris had to go to the toilet so it was just me and his little brother. But then he said he needed to go to the toilet too. He ran off to the bathrooms and I realised I shouldn’t just wait for him to come back, I should wait outside the toilets. I legged it up to the toilets like it was an emergency or something and I was out of breath when I got there.

I met a girl who I used to go to school with but we’d had a fight and hadn’t spoken in years. She was wearing our uniform from work so I asked her had she gotten a job in the cinema. She started going on and on about it and how much she loved it and how great it was that we’d be working together and so on. I couldn’t get away from her but when I finally did, both Chris’ brother was back from the toilet and hadn’t noticed me standing outside.

This is where it gets kind of disturbing. I went to join Chris’ brother back in the main part of the shop. He was sitting on the ground with his arms around his knees looking really really scared. It was clear something had happened but I didn’t know what. I ran up to him and when I reached him I found out that these guys who were sitting behind him had poured something on him, like oil but I’m not sure what exactly it was. I picked him up and held him in my arms while absolutely screaming at the guys. Chris came up at this point and told me to leave them as cleaning up his brother was the priority. I knew he was right so we took him back to the bathrooms.

The dream skips a bit then because the next bit has me meeting Chris on his break from work. It looked more like McDonald’s than a cinema though. I had bought chocolate nuggets (and spent ages picking them out) to share with him on his break. Our manager and another worker were standing beside us though so I offered some chocolate to them. Chris made a face at me as if to say I was sucking up to the manager so I stuck my tongue out at him. Our manager took some chocolate but the other woman said she had gone off chocolate ever since she had gotten a bad box of it one Christmas. I think that was the end of it.

I was so frightened for Chris’ brother, I woke up feeling horrible. I guess even though it was just a dream I felt responsible for it.

Dreamer xxx

My students and I had a big debate about babysitting recently.  The they didn’t get it.  They were rather shocked by the idea that teenagers would look after little children in States. They kept saying things like: why would you trust a teenager with your child? why would a mom do that? teenagers aren’t responsible enough for this. Then they started telling that in Bulgaria grandmothers watch small children.  They are more reliable and trust worthy.  I tried to explain the American mentality behind teenagers babysitting.

I am a long time babysitter.  In the States it’s a pretty common thing but by the time I was in high school I had regular families that I babysat for.  I knew who liked what, which songs to sing, how to trick children into bed, which book would put them to sleep and just how to get someone back to sleep if he or she woke up.  In one case after school from 3-6pm four days a week I went to same family’s house and did my homework until the toddler woke up from his nap (his mom working at her graphic design and adverting job a few rooms away in the office); I’d get him up, hold him, give him a snack in his high-chair and then we’d play until mom came out.

It’s a pretty routine kind of job.  You show up and smile.  You listen to directions–feed them this, put them to bed by x time, they can’t go in here, watch out if you play this game it has little pieces and call this number if you have a problem we’ll be there.  And in a world before cell phones I said okay but also told who ever I was babysitting for: don’t worry my MoM and dAd are home too so if there was a problem I could call them.  Then the parents leave and all hell breaks loose–kids everywhere, begging to do, each and watch things on tv that their parents never let them do and you do your best to manage the chaos. It’s for this reason that babysitting isn’t for everyone but I like kids and for the most part they like me.  I also liked getting paid to watch little kids.  At between $3 and maybe $5 an hour it didn’t add up fast but three or four hours later I’d have between $9 and$20 and that’s pretty good when your expenses are more or less limited to movies, cds, make-up, sweeter-than-sweet-coffee at the local hang out and the clothes your parents wont buy you.

So teenagers babysit in the States because they are young and energetic.  We play games, chase children and have fun doing.  Parents talk to parents and girls in the neighborhood are recommended to babysit. It starts out small and then may build to something bigger.  Teenagers are also cheep labor.  We don’t demand very much money because we don’t really know that we can and for most of us some money is better than nothing.  It’s not as if our expenses are very high–so we take what we get and are generally happy with this.

The other piece I think is that in America’s history families were bigger and lots of teenagers were looking after their siblings.  Then when families expanded Westward generational family ties changed and the role of older people in society changed as well.  Their value changed.  Youth, energy and vitality were valued over experience, age and wisdom.  Then with the rise of cities the family unit changed again.  A dependence on neighbors increased and I understand that babysitting as we knew developed seriously during the Great Depression as more women began to enter the workforce.

But none of this convinced my students.  They couldn’t get over the idea that somehow teenage girls are responsible enough to watch after someone else’s children.  I mentioned to the group of four students I was talking to that if I had children, I would trust them to babysit children.  Their eyes got big.  I tried to further my case. I told them that they were well spoken, that they turned in their work on time, that they got to school and class on time and that based on their appearances they seemed to do a good job looking after themselves. And that for these reasons I would be happy to trust my children to their care for a couple of hours.  Didn’t fly.  They remained completely unconvinced.

In fact, they stood firm in their belief that grandmothers were the best people to care for babies and children.  It’s not often that I come to an impase with my students but when it came to babysitting there was no reaching them.  I didn’t expect them to pick up babysitting right then and there–it’s simply not part of the culture in Bulgaria but usually these studnets are able to arrive a place of understanding.  In this case, it was no go.  And, they even got me thinking–why did anyone trust me to babysit their children when I was 15, 16 and 17 years old?

Well.. It’s been a long few weeks.

I’ve been babysitting alot lately which is not a normal thing for me, but when my friend needs me I rarely say no. Not b/c i’m a pushover but because I care about my friend and she’s a single mom and really doesn’t know many people in this area.

Her kids are wonderful. They are so well behaved its scary. I’ve never met kids like this before and sometimes they are a little hard to entertain because there is a long list of things they don’t do like watch tv or listen to much music.

Hub’s new job is going well.  I’m thankful for it. It’s been a rough ride but things are slowly starting to even out. He’s claiming he is going to have to leave in two weeks for a job in Kentucky or Kansas or something. I’m not sure which because he hasn’t given me any details yet. That might fall through like most of the traveling jobs in the past have. I hope so. I really can’t imagine him being gone for a month. Even more so with the holidays coming.

Cole is doing a small amount better in school. It’s a constant fight with him. He’s extremely stubborn and hard headed.. I have no clue where he gets it from.. lol.. The girls are doing as usual. Report cards come out today so we’ll see how that goes but i’m expecting pretty much the same as last time.

Wyatt has been.. well.. He’s 3.. That kind of explains it right? He’s busy non stop! He learned to say kiss my ass b/c of  a cousin who thought it was grand to tell Cole that and now Wyatt has picked it up and nothing is stopping him from saying it. The more attention he gets from it the more he says it. Yet the kids I babysit are appalled each time he says it. We’ve been in and out of the ENT’s office for his ears. He had a constant infection in his left ear around his tube for 3 months. They kept saying to continue drops and I was beyond irritated at the situation. How on earth is an infection for 3 months okay? His ear kept bleeding and they said it was normal and not a big deal. I did get more than one opinion and was told the same thing by each doctor. It was a minor irritation and the bleeding was normal to just continue the drops. We went in last week and 2 weeks before that and 2 weeks before that. Finally they started talking about doing something about it. They were starting to talk having to go in and do surgery to remove the irritated tissue and possibly the tube and replace the tube. Then last week they said it looked better and would most likely not require surgery. They did dig in his ear and remove some bad tissue and one tube while in the office. We have to go back again on Monday so they can check the ear again and make sure the infection is getting better and they hope to remove more bad tissue with out going into surgery again. Other than that he’d been healthy and we’ve ventured into potty training hell. I think we should be able to fast forward through this time. Potty training is not fun. There is nothing good about it except for the fact that you can eventually kiss the diapers goodbye..  He is taking forever to potty train and not because he can’t do it but because he is stubborn as an ox! I swear he’s doing this mess just to aggravate me..

I decided to get his hair cut last week. The lady ended up screwing his hair up and we had to cut it off shorter than we intended. He looks SO different now..

This is the before

This was last week in the doctors office. He had fallen asleep in the car and ended up w/ the back of his hair all matted up. He badly needed a hair cut! Oh the pictures are taken with my blackberry. Hubs dropped my camera and broke it so i’m stuck using my blackberry for pictures at the moment and it doesnt do a very good job!

and the after!

Yes he’s a handsome little man!

I ended up cutting both Jewel & Taylor’s hair on Monday night. I didn’t really want to but was beyond tired of listening to them complain about their hair being too long. Hubs flipped out over Taylor’s hair. He says its too short but I cut it how she wanted it and I think she’s old enough now to decide how she wants to wear her hair. I don’t have a picture of Jewel but here’s Taylor..

She always looks soooooooooooooo amused.. Doesnt she?

She never fixes her hair but its really cute when its fixed. I can’t see making her have hair she hates. I had to wear mine long for way too long and I hated it.

Then I went and dyed my hair blue yesterday. This really isnt any big news. I do stuff like this all the time, but it had been a very long while since i’d had blue hair. It’s not all blue. Most of it is black. The underneath is blue. For the last few months it had been a punk rock red. Here’s a bad picture that again had to be taken on the crackberry so you’re only getting the very back of my head and you can’t see all of my hair b/c its up in a messy bun. The color is distorted b/c the crackberry doesn’t play fair. My black is not as dull and faded as it looks. No its really rather bold and glossy..

very bad pic but you get the "idea"

Now.. Lets see what else..  Oh yes.. New Moon came out at 12:01 this morning. It’s almost shocking I wasn’t there but really I couldn’t handle the crowd so I didn’t even attempt it. I am however going tomorrow night to the very last showing of the night. I’m hoping the crowd will be less and I won’t need to hurt anyone. I’ve waited a year for this and i’m ready to go already and I want to go w/ out having to hurt someone for acting like a stupid idiot. Most of my friends saw it at the opening.. I’m the odd ball out and didn’t make it. I however sat on pins and needles while they went to see it and was relieved that no one said it sucked. I couldn’t handle going and it sucking.

So thats about all thats going on in my world. Well not really. I’ve still been lost in fanfiction land. Yes its a horrible addiction but its one of the safest out there and my story is doing well on fanfiction.net . I am actually enjoying myself and it feels good to write and have people actually like it. Even if it is just fanfiction..

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is next week. It blows my mind how fast this year has flown by. Well the good part of the year anyhow. The part where we have a house and things get better.. Yeah these last few months have FLOWN by. I can’t wait to be able to cook next week and enjoy the holidays w/ out having to worry about lack of electricity or how cold its going to be. I’m so laid back this year compared to last. Things feel good!!

I’ve got a post i’ve been working on for this blog for a few weeks now in my que waiting on me to finish it. I just haven’t been able to get to it. Hopefully next week I can finish it..

I’ve got to go chase down some children now.. I’m out!

**Oh yeah.. Hubs is against me letting kidlets (read that to say TAYLOR) decide how she wants her hair.. What do you guys think? Do you give them a choice at 10 years old if its reasonable? I mean she didnt ask for blue streaks and a mohawk..

In modern society there are a lot of fears about babysitting, but is it really necessary to keep your children with you from birth until they’re old enough to look after themselves?
Many parents will argue that having babysitters look after children every now and again effectively increases their social skills, by allowing them to interact with more people than those that they are usually around, as well as giving the parents a welcome break (which is thought to be good for the relationship between parent and child when in moderation). Of course, this leads to the pressing matter of who to trust with your kids, with cases such as the infamous Madeleine McCann story creating controversial panic about child safety.
Expecting mother of two, Rebecca from Coventry claims that “I wouldn’t put myself in a situation where I didn’t completely trust whoever was looking after my kids: It’s not worth the risk or worry.” she then continued to state that she would only trust her own parents with looking after her children.
Naturally, not everyone has the luxury of being able to call upon their parents to look after their children, in which case it’s advised that you do thorough background research on any potential sitter, asking for references and getting in contact with others whose children have previously been cared for by the person, as well as always asking for proof that they have had a clear CRB check.

By Ryan Brailsford

Haven Bella looking like a Sweet little Flower

Our family finally has its first baby girl!  My niece, Haven Bella, was born on July 8^th of this year – a great birthday date to remember – 7-8-9!  We are excited to have a girl join the ‘boys club’ we had going.

Four months have now passed since the glorious date that we all ooo’d and awww’d over little Haven.  She is growing bigger by the day, and although still a ‘little baby’ her mom and dad were ready to take the big step and go out for some much needed time together – without children!

Friday was the first night that Mike and Joslyn took a breather from the kiddos and headed out for a nice relaxing dinner for two.  My nephew Justice was spending some quality time with Grandpa – and little Haven came to spend the evening in Aunt KK’s arms (that’s me!!!)  I have to admit that Aunt KK is not 100% confident with tiny babies.  Maybe I am just not completely comfortable, but at 4 months old…I thought I could handle it!  The evening (to say the least) had its ups and downs – here is how it unfolded:

6:30
Bye Bye Mommy and Daddy – Hello child that is (supposedly) about to fall asleep…

7:10
40 minutes later – after walking around the house, rocking and singing lullabies to Little Miss Haven, she FINALLY falls asleep

7:11
Carefully laying her on the couch next to me I pop in a movie – ready for an hour and half of quiet bliss

7:53
Haven is awake….Cry….Cry….Cry….

7:53:30
Aunt KK picks up Haven and tries to sooth her – more walking, rocking and singing (did I mention that I am NOT a singer?)

8:00
Dinner Time (Haven is a ‘Baby Wise Baby’ and she knows when it’s time to eat!) I pull out the Dr. Brown’s Bottle and warm the milk… 

8:05
Haven is NOT having it!  Try as I might this little girl does not love her bottle – go back to walking…

8:12
Haven is still clearly upset and not eating – I am at my wit’s end and praying for Joslyn to walk through that door…

8:13
Haven and Aunt KK say in unison:  HELLOOO MOMMY!  THANK GOD YOU ARE HERE!

Of course we all survived…and I am sure every parent (and every babysitter!) has experienced nights like this.  What are some of the tips you give your sitters – I could really use some!!!!

We live in an apartment.  It is not small, it is not huge . . . its adequate in its 3 bedroom capacity to house our small family of 2 boys and a set of parents.

A couple of times a week I watch two more tots . . . same age as my boys, 3 and 4 . . . close enough that I can say that.  I think Jordan turns 3 in December.  Thats beside the point.

When you get 4 boys under 5 in an average sized 3 bedroom apartment . . . trapped indoors due to rain and hail and cold winds . . . it is amusing, trying and “I-should-be-documenting-this-for-some-reality-show-revealing-of-tot-behavior-whilst-trapped-indoors-for-hours” kind of feeling.

I’ll leave it to the producers to think of a shorter name for the documentary.

Perhaps

“Trying Times in Tot-Land”.

Or something stupid like that.

The boys I watch are fantastic kids.  The listen and help pick up when I announce those times.  They eat politely and are mostly nice to my boys.  They use the potty . . . without me reminding them too much.  They stay out of the garbage and leave the fridge alphabet magnets on the fridge . . . while and after playing with them.  They buckle themselves in their carseats . . . no help from me, just a bit of supervision.  They share, for the most part, and enjoy interacting with my kids.

Unlike some other tots that live here . . . that listen on when I get that tone in my voice and pick up if I’m standing over them.  I’m pretty sure Tob had his dinner plate taken away tonight for throwing carrots at Sam, across the room, so the eating politely thing is stricken.  I don’t think I’ll talk too much about the “being nice to others” bit . . . except to say that wrestling and rough housing is fine for a little while and then the boys were done . . . well, not my boys, just the boys I was watching. I hate poop . . . poop in the toilet!!  ”Didn’t I just throw that empty Wheat Thins box in the garbage, Tob? Huh? Why are you using it for a car ramp? And, no, you can’t have the lid off he discarded milk carton either!” Gross! The stove is not my favorite spot for the alphabet magnets to be sported. You know, hefting a 20 pound 15 month old in a car seat . .. oh, who am I kidding . . . 30 pound 15 month old in a car seat was a feat of sorts.  I do believe that constitutes as an all-body workout.  Hoisting a 45 pound 4.5 year old into a car seat that now sits in a 4×4 SUV. . . I think my back is out.  I don’t think Sam ever relinquished the highly sought after ‘Mac’ truck (from the movie Cars) . . . the one thats made of plastic that is missing half its parts, not to mention missing the trailer that attaches to it . . . piece of plastic crap.  ”Take my friends back,” Tob kept saying all evening.  I didn’t really comprehend what he was referring to . . . then Aaron decided to clarify . . . “I think he wants to you take us back home.”  So frickin sweet my kids are! Like merchandise . . . just take them back.  Hmmm . . . is there return/exchange for kids?

Actually I love my kids . . . no worries.

I mean . . . who couldn’t love this!

Two  . . . two is a good number.

~blessings

I can’t believe it’s already been 10 months since Emmett was born, yet it still seems like so long ago.  This past Sunday, James, Emmett and I went to Shawn and Sara’s to babysit one-month old Ben while they went out for a lunch date, and it seemed like such a flash back.

I also realized how much easier it is to look after a one-month old than it is a 10-month old.  My gosh!  It’s crazy to think about how our lives have evolved in 10 months.

Checking out his cuz

Sleepy Ben

James pacifying Ben

Oh, what Shawn and Sara are in for in 9 months …

Age Timer: 10 months

Happy 6 Months Since Graduation!

May 17^th 2009 was the date that I and my fellow Stags graduated from Fairfield University. That was exactly 6 months ago today. Yes, believe it or not, it was half a year ago. Here’s a recap of how the “Real World” has been treating me, and others, so far.

The Facts of Post Grad Life Six Months In:

I’m still living with my parents. This isn’t that surprising considering the economy, but it’s still a fact.

I got an internship at CTNewsJunkie.com which is great for building my portfolio but not so great for starting a “real” life.

I’m not making any money, besides the occasional babysitting job. Every time they see me they say they hope that I won’t be available next time they call since it will mean I have a job.

I’m always available the next time they call.

Out of the six other girls I lived with my senior year, one has been employed since June, one recently had her job become full-time after working for a while part-time, two are unemployed and interning like myself, one has a full-time temporary job that will be ending in December and one is in graduate school.

I received a significant amount of high-fives during our Alumni Weekend as a result of our shared state of unemployment. This indicates that there are many people still in the same boat. It also indicates that unemployment is becoming a sort of exclusive member’s only club, like Greek Life.

The only fulltime job I have right now is a farmer on the Facebook application, Farmville. I’m not even that successful in the simulation job market considering I’m only level 17 and don’t have enough money to expand my farm.

With that said, please gift me more chickens. Right now I only have one in my coop that I just bought for 20,000 coins. Poor investment, I know.

I mastered a standup comedy act where I tell friends of my parents and other adults that I am a stay-at-home mom for my mom when they ask me what I’ve been up to since graduation.

The sad fact is that this is true since I run all of her errands and have even become a proxy member of a church service group that she is involved with.

Speaking of which I have to go empty the dishwasher and check on the towels in the dryer.

I also do yoga.

I’ve applied to 54 jobs, or at least those are the ones that I’ve recorded in my Excel spreadsheet. A roommate of mine applied to over a hundred and she finally got a job around lucky number 96, or there about. Guess I’ve got to get moving.

I’ve gone on several informational interviews all with no success in finding a job. I did get to have some nice conversations and get out of the house for a change though. Essentially I have expanded my network, which is good, but have seen no real results from it.

In the past six months I have only received one invitation for an interview. In fact, I am still waiting to hear back when they want me to come in.

The movie that is a mockery of my life, Post Grad, has only secured a whopping 5.4 out of 10 on Internet Movie Database, much to my elation. 

I’ve probably cooked a meal for my family only four times. Two of those times only involved only making part of the meal, Sweet Potato Fries to be exact. This is something I leave out when doing my “stay-at-home mom for mom” comedy act.

The term “fun-employed” is not part of my vocabulary anymore, or anyone’s for that matter. If the term “not-fun-employed” sounded half as witty I’d probably use that instead.

I try to get myself clean and dressed everyday like a normal person despite the fact that 50% of the time I rarely leave my house. Who needs to when applying for jobs these days involves gluing yourself to your computer chair?

I’ve probably read more books in this 6 month period than I ever did during my 4 years at college. That’s a testament to how much free time I have and also to the amount of high school friends who still live in the area, meaning very few.

Hopefully many of you can commiserate with me. If not, you are clearly on a good path and I wish you the best of luck to continue in that direction.

To the rest of us, hang in there. We are going to be such warriors after all of this gets better. It takes a lot of courage to keep going in this kind of economy when all of our lives all we had to do was enjoy the ride.

When we graduated the ease of living came to a screeching halt.  It’s obviously not going to be easy to figure out what to do next. There is no right answer and even the top CEOs don’t have the perfect solution.

This is just one giant problem solving experience. We get to do a lot of soul-searching and attempts to make things go our way.

Ultimately we’ll be better off because of it.

Or at least that’s what we have to keep on thinking.

This too shall pass, right?

Bon, si vous avez suivi, au dernier post, je repartais en angleterre, mais forcement en arrivant, pas de scanner, donc total impossibilité de vous envoyer mes nouvelles aventures! Je vous ai donc fait une petite update

Erm , voila, je vous l’ accorde, c est un chouillas decousu comme note

Maintenant je suis de retour a Coventry, et Mon nouveau boulot a commencé! Vous en saurez plus tres tres vite !

Hello to all you busy moms in Chester County, and Lancaster County.  We are here to help!  Whether it be by babysitting, doing household chores like tidying up the house, or maybe you dont have time to run those much-needed errands yourself. Heck maybe you just don’t want to run the errands:)  Let us here at More Mommy Time give you exactly what you need and deserve, More Mommy Time!

Two things have happened this month which have made my life much easier: Jer has had a few weeks off before starting his new job and his dad and sister have come to visit for a couple of weeks.
This has meant that pretty much for the first time since Munchkin was born I have been able to take naps and sleep in. Even though we’ve had some rough nights (up at 2,3,4,5.30,6 etc mmmm immunisations are great), I’ve been able to hand him over in the morning to someone else and go back to bed. His grandpa has been dying to spend time with him and munchkin loves hanging out with someone prepared to make faces at him all the time. He even took him out for a walk in the baby bjorn.
Just having someone else there to look after him while I take a shower means I don’t have to turn the water off every 30 seconds to listen for crying. I can take time to breathe!
More excitedly he is going to babysit on Saturday night when jer and I have a date night, our first! We are going to a very fancypants restaurant in London and I can’t wait.
Now if I could just figure out what to wear..
P.s. I am secretly terrified of when grandpa leaves and jer goes back to work. Whatdya mean I have to look after this baby All By Myself again???

On a good day, I enjoy appreciating life’s little things. Life’s little accomplishments.

-Over the phone, invite parents/their kids to an exclusive Christmas party we are hosting. Carry-out the conversation in Spanish only? Check.

-Repeat the above process about 50 or so times and(make sure you’re intelligible with your Spanish because it’s your butt if they don’t get the invitation)…Check.

-Babysit 3 rowdy (especially collectively) brothers who only know Spanish? Piece of Tres Leches.

After yesterday, I know that I am getting better at not only surviving your regular phone conversation (yes, I generally hate phone conversations), I can float by in the conversations where Spanish is the language of choice. On top of all of that…I now know that I am at least (or almost?) as fluent in Spanish as a 4-year-old. My vocabularly in communicating with the oh-so-adorable boys from my church was enough to get by…although it would have helped to remember the command “share”.

When I didn’t have the words, I made faces or goofy motions that they brought laughs and imitation.

They gave me hugs and butterfly kisses almost immediately. They played with pretend swords and were “caballeros”…and, when I asked them who I was, they said:

“Tu eres el Rey” (“You are the king”). I double-checked that declaration:

“Yo soy el Rey?!” (I’M the King?!”)

“Siii, claaaro!” (“Yes, of course!”).

I felt like Max from Where the Wild Things Are and was comforted in my efforts toward bilingualism.

Needless to say, before I went to bed last night, I praised the linguistic Gods above.

I know she’s almost 2, but Addison right now is still my “baby”. It’s been hard to see her grow up, even though I love it at the same time. I’m seeing some “big boy” stuff in Sam too, which is also hard, cuz he was my first baby. Anyways, today was a first: Addison went TO someone’s house to be babysat without her big brother there. Usually if I take Sam somewhere, Addison is with Chris so it’s not quite babysitting. But today Sam & I went to the dentist & left Addi behind with our great friend, Brooke, and she did absolutely great. I got a little sad when she was walking like a big girl up the stairs to Brooke’s house, so I quickly snapped a picture. See what I mean?

No crying. Nothing. I love my kids & I love each stage of their lives. God has truly blessed Chris & me as parents. What a great calling.