Follow the Leader

The past couple of days E has been learning that it really is in her best interest to do as I say because if she doesn't, it might end in disaster. Here are some examples:

1. E was bouncing her bouncy putty as high as she could inside the house. I told her to be more careful, and not bounce so high while inside. She decided to not listen to what I had said, and bounced her putty into a protruding part of the living room wall too high for her to reach--even with a chair and a broom.

2. E wanted to boil an egg in the microwave. She grabbed a glass and filled it with water and added her egg. I told her to put the egg in a bowl rather than the cup. She assured me that she knew what she was doing and put the egg to cook in the glass. About a minute later, we hear an explosion in the kitchen. The egg had exploded all over the microwave, making a mess. She regretfully cleaned it up.

This is life,

Zuri

Bunnies

I have a playlist on YouTube with a bunch of songs and I listen to it while at the house with E. On my playlist, I have the song You and I by Ingrid Michaelson and while listening to it one morning E noticed the lyrics, "I want to do what bunnies do, with you, if you know what I mean..." She freaks out and says, "What is that bunny doing to that guy!" I bust out laughing and told her not to worry about. Of course, she can't let it go and now every time she hears the first few notes of the song, she comes out from wherever she is and screams, "But SERIOUSLY! What are those bunnies doing to that guy?!"

This is life,
Zuri

Honeymoon

Now that I've been taking care of E for a few weeks, she has begun treating me like a member of the family. You would think that's good, but what you don't realize is that the people you're the rudest to and take the most advantage of is family. Why? Because you know you can get away with it, and they will still love you. To me, this means that the "honeymoon" phase is now over. E is now fully capable of having an all out tantrum and not care how she looks in front of me. Just the other day, she decided she was just going to stop breathing because she was angry that I wouldn't tell her how to spell continent. Yup, she held her breath. I did everything in my power not to laugh because of how simply ridiculous it was. I told her that I would just wait until she passed out and then call 911, and I continued with whatever I was doing at the moment. I think it made her even angrier that I was so passive about her not breathing. If looks could kill, I surely would've been dead.

This is life,

Zuri

Cat Skeletons

As part of my nanny duties, I am supposed to let the cats outside. One afternoon Lily, our black cat, got into a fight with the cul-de-sac cat, and ran up a tree. When you're 8 years old, your cat being stuck in a tree is a huge deal, but when that 8 year old is as dramatic as E, it's really the end of the world. We waited to see if Lily would come down on her own, but after 30 minutes E was getting desperate. E called her mom, who then told us to call the fire department.

I called the fire department nearest our house, and when I told the receptionist I was calling because our cat was stuck in a tree, she started laughing. By the point, I was laughing too, realizing how incredibly ridiculous and cliche it was that I was calling the fire department to get a cat out of the tree. She then connected me with a Lieutenant, who thought I was just a prank caller. He even asked, "Who is this?" in a super serious tone. After realizing this was, in fact, a serious inquiry his tone cooled down as he explained the liabilities of sending "his men" to pull cats out of trees. Then he told me something I will never forget. He told me to tell E to Google "cat skeletons in trees"--What?!--which sounded crazy, but he continued to explain that cats always come down from trees so there aren't any pictures of cat skeletons on Google, thus alleviating E's worries that Lily would be in that tree forever. I didn't tell E to do that, but did assure her that Lily would come down when she was hungry, and 10 minutes later, Lily did.

This is life,

Zuri

Quietus

My grandma died last weekend. Left the world without a word, and not because she didn't want to, but because the cancer took away her voice. I called her that morning, the day she passed. They said it was the end. I told her I loved her; said I missed her so much. Then, she was gone.

It hurts. I didn't know what it felt like...until now. What it feels like to lose someone. Those 3 months feel like both the best choice I have made and like a mistake because they allowed me to know her, to love her, to grow close to her.

I couldn't make it back for the funeral. Plane tickets cost too much these days. Instead, I grieved alone, crying until the tears ran out.

This is life,

Zuri

The New Generation

The other day as E and I were driving to the grocery store, I decided to put some music on. I played a more recent album by Echosmith. E decided she didn't like the music and asked if we could listen to Taylor Swift instead. I told her no and when she inevitably asked why I said that Echosmith is more talented than Taylor Swift. E replied by telling me that "Taylor Swift is more famous than Echosmith, so obviously she's better." And then she shocks me by continuing with, "It's just that Echosmith's music is not made for the new generation." I asked her what she meant by "new" generation. Apparently, the "new" generation is children 8 and under, and that as a 20 year old I am a member of the "old" generation, together with her parents and Abraham Lincoln. And as part of the old generation, I can't understand that Taylor Swift is actually way better than a band that's not really that famous.

Welcome to being "old" my fellow 20 year olds.

This is life,

Zuri

Introduction

I’ve been in the childcare business for 8 years—I can’t believe it’s been that long—and it’s always been something I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. I started out working in the nursery at church just once a month, until eventually at 14 years old I had my own Sunday school class. Sometimes things ran smoothly, and of course, other times I was driving myself crazy trying to teach fifteen 5-6 year old's. (Alone, I might add.) Sadly, I had to leave my hometown to pursue further education. Now, I'm in my 2nd year of college and scored an awesome job being a nanny for a family in the town that I currently live in. Life is great, but things can always get a little crazy when taking care of a child that 1. isn't mine, and 2. I have to be with for more than a couple of hours at a time. Hopefully, this job will teach me some valuable lessons that will make me better at dealing with people, young and old.

What I hope people get out of this blog, is that being a babysitter/nanny/mom is a tough job that has its ups and downs. A job that is most rewarding, but can make you want to pull your hair out. With that being said, I hope you enjoy my stories, both the funny and exciting, and the mundane.

This is life,

Zuri