Wednesday

a day in the life
By Vanessa P
7:30 – Walk in, find mom in the kitchen. We chat for a bit while kids are still asleep.

7:45 – Twins wake up. Go upstairs, open the door and say a big "Good Morning!". They both smile back and say "hi" and then "hola" (that one makes me very proud! they just turned one and its one of their first words :) ). I change them and get them bottles.

7:50 – Big sis wakes up in the happiest mood. We chatter about choo-choos, count to 10 in both English and Spanish, spell her name, and sing Baby Bumblebee while I change her. (Twins are downstairs w/mom)

8:00 – Breakfast time! Twins are not patient when they're hungry! Wowee! I cut some fruit up and then big sis offers to help make some waffles. I share my omelet with them (more like they take it from me).

8:30 – Da comes downstairs and greets everybody. He doesn't stay long cause he has to go to work, so babies get upset. They love their Da! Mom locks herself in her office. Big sis gets upset so we turn Elmo on. She is back to her happy self again. I, on the other hand, start to get annoyed by Elmo's high pitched voice.

9:00 – Twins, big sis, and I play around and read books. I turn on the music channel and we all start to dance. We've got moves! I just taught big sis how to do the wave. "Ice Ice Baby" starts playing, which is big sis' fave song. She starts rapping "yo v.i.p! let's kick it!" Always cracks me up. I do the running man, she tries to follow. Girl-twin bounces up and down on the couch and marches a little while repeating "ice" over and over. Boy-twin just nods his head to the beat while playing with his cars (obviously, he's 2cool4school). Then comes Good Day Sunshine. Big sis loves it. I love her for loving The Beatles.

10:00 – Nap time for the twins. Quiet time for big sis and me.

11:00 – Take big sis for a walk around the city. She loves it! We start naming colors on cars, counting, singing, chatting, etc.

11:30 - Big sis sick of sitting on stroller and wants to roam free. I let her out and she helps me push the stroller. She's so good when walking on her own. She always listens to me! We stop and get some snacks, we feed a duck, she squeals. By "she", I mean we.

12:00 – Back home!

12:15 – Twins wake up. I go pick them up with big sis. Put twins' clothes away while they play in the room.

1:00 – Lunch time! Warm up some noodles with peas and white sauce for twins. They love it! Girl-twin eats like a caveman. She loves to grab big handfuls of food and whatever goes in, goes in. It's funny considering how delicate-looking she is! But man she ain't no lady when she eats. Boy-twin is more of a methodical, clean eater. He picks up food with his thumb and index fingers, such a little gentleman. Big sis helps me make a PB & J. She's obsessed with them. I eat last night's leftovers. Babies steal my food... again. I just can't resist their hungry porcelain doll faces, you know?

2:00 – Sticker time for big sis, fighting time for twins. Big sis loves creating art with stickers and I love helping her. Unfortunately, two little babies start to get clingy and all of a sudden they start their own little competition called "Who can climb up my leg faster and win my affection?" They start pushing each other out of the way while I pointlessly try to explain that there's enough of me for the both of them. They will not have it! They grunt and yell and push each other. I find a way to hold them both on my lap. They're like little loving monkeys. I adore them so much.

2:30 - Big sis starts getting tired. She turns from a sweet girl into a demon-child. She starts throwing things at the twins, getting hyper, and pushing every button she can. Me telling her to stop is like adding fuel to the fire. We've all had enough, so I pick her up and take her to bed. She wails because she doesn't think she's tired. I disagree. The whole world disagrees. I put her down and she starts kicking and screaming. I calm her down by asking her to tell me where each of her stuffed animals in her crib should sleep. She calms down and starts smiling again. Girlie is bossy, so I'm sure she really enjoys being the one telling me what to do.

3:00 – Twins nap time. I start singing George Michael's "Freedom", mom laughs.

3:05 – Start washing bottles, putting dishes in dishwasher and cleaning up after kids.

3:25 – Whip out the laptop and relax.

5:00 – Kids wake up

5:05 – Mom stops working and comes into the living room. She has to go to the post office and asks me if I want to come along (of course we do!) I love walking around with the babies and with mom, it's so relaxing. Mom and I are good friends and I really enjoy it when we all hang out together. I'm off the clock at 5:30 and extra-time kicks in.

6:30 –Back home!

6:45 - Mom makes dinner, she tells me she's going to make my favorite dish. I'm very excited! We all gather in the kitchen. Babies play, mom and I chat.

7:00 – Da's home! Babies flock to him, he's like their own amusement park. He manages to make all three of them laugh and have so much fun. I am officially released of duties. I sit on the couch and relax and play with girl-twin (she loooves that couch).

7:45 - Twins go to bed

8:00 - Big sis goes to bed

8:05 - Mom, Da and I hang out on the couch with our dinner plates and watch Celebrity Apprentice.

9:00 - Help clean up, say my good-byes and head home. I'm definitely one lucky lady!


16 comments:

MONKEYSHINES said...

That is a long day

world's best nanny said...

OK I am done with the day in the life posts. Sorry ladies!

Vanessa said...

OP here, I see what you say about Mom and Dad wanting their own time together. I don't do this every night. I only work for them 3 days a week and only watch TV w/ them one of those days. Thing is, momboss and I like the same shows and dadboss doesn't like them. So she likes to watch them with me after dinner, because she likes the company.

Also yeah long hours, but dinner is part of my extra hour pay. They pay me extra to help them after 5:30 and they also "feed" me. It was their idea in the first place, because they know I'm a college girl who doesn't cook for herself and feel bad for me. I agreed, because I have saved a lot of money because of them and because I want to help them as much as I can.

another nanny said...

Wow, those kids sure know how to sleep! You said the twins just turned 1? And sleep like 16 hours per day? Fortunate for you and the parents, since it sounds like the kids are very close in age.

Anyway, sounds like you enjoy your job and work for reasonable people. This was also amusing to read.

Mama G said...

I love the day in the lifes!

Tanya said...

No fair...yours got posted and mine didn't. :(

Taylor said...

@Tanya: Don't feel bad. Neither did mine.

MaryPoppin'Pills said...

The DITL's are being Published in the order they were received, it is the only fair way to do it.

Vanessa said...

@Another nanny YEAH! I think the twins are making up for the fact that they woke up twice a night for about 10 months! haha. All of a sudden, they started sleeping from 8 - 7:30. They usually take two naps a day, sometimes sleep 2 hours, sometimes 1 hour, and sometimes they don't take a second nap. Big sis is like a little golden retriever. She just goes and goes all day so has a lot of energy to burn. She definitely needs as many hours of sleep as she can get!

nycmom said...

Is Spanish your first language (asking since your English writing is obviously excellent)?

Do the parents want you to teach the kids Spanish?

If yes, from someone who has made this a primary nanny-hiring goal, you need to speak to them in ONLY SPANISH ALL THE TIME! Otherwise, they will learn lots of cute phrases and words as toddlers and pre-schoolers, but will never achieve fluency (barring plan for an immersion school, of course.).

Vanessa said...

Hi,

Yes my native language is Spanish, and thank you. I talk to them in Spanish and English (which is why the 1 yr-olds know what "Hola" actually means. They don't just say it, they mean it.

And no, this never was a primary nanny-hiring goal. In fact the parents never even mentioned it until I told them big sis was learning new words. I do it because I want to, not because I have to.

Ginger said...

Love this positive DITL! Sounds like you really enjoy your job. :-)

adriatic-sea said...

World's best nanny:
This site has been going through pretty big dry spells... I am happy to see that there's *something* posted.
Not wanting to sound bitchy, just an observation!

NannyInNC said...

This family sounds very easy going & wonderful to work for.
Even with such a wonderful family I wouldn't be able to handle that very long day. Do you work this very schedule 5 days a week?

NannyInNC said...

Nevermind just read your comment clarifying.
Sorry about that.

Vanessa said...

Yeah they're super laid back and easy going. I've been very lucky in that area. I've never had to deal with high maintenance or nasty people.