If you have any experience babysitting, you know there's always something to laugh about. Imagine taking that to a whole new level by spending 40 hours per week with the kids. Being a nanny is an amplified version of babysitting, with more time spent and more responsibility. The possibilities for humor throughout your week are endless. This summer, I spent nine weeks as a nanny, and I've definitely made some funny memories! While the majority of our time together was characterized by summer fun and laughter, we definitely had some bumps along the road. Perhaps you can relate.
One of the wonderful things about spending so much time with children is the inevitable bond you form. In my case, we were already family, but we undoubtedly became much closer. At times, the kids couldn't wait until 5 o'clock when I was technically off-duty so they could do whatever it was I wouldn't let them. Sometimes I couldn't get away. I would leave the house for a couple hours, and upon my return, they would cling to me with hugs saying they missed me terribly. Once, when I was leaving for a weekend trip, they sat on the stairs and scowled at me. While they may have had a legitimate reason to be upset with me, I'm pretty sure it was simply because I was leaving them.
One day, I caught myself being reluctant to hug my cousin. When he questioned me about it, I realized it was because the last time he had asked for a hug, he had, essentially, body slammed me. One afternoon, we were laughing, goofing off and having an all-around good time, but the mood was dampened by the shockingly fast transformation of a fluffy pillow into a brutal weapon of destruction. One minute, we were all laughing. The next instant, I was bewildered by two crying children attempting to to blame the other. It was stressful in the moment, but only a few hours later, I was laughing at the irony.
Now, the thing about babysitting kids who are siblings, especially those who are each other's best friends, is that they will eventually band together against you. No, I'm not kidding or exaggerating. They will whisper and plan and plot against you. Try not to take it personally. You can be thankful that they aren't fighting each other. Early on in the summer, I noticed one day that they were behaving uncharacteristically bad. I eventually sat them down and straight up asked why they were acting out. The younger leaned toward the other and whispered, "Maybe we should tell her." "Tell me what?!" The older one seemed to mull over in his mind whether or not he would tell me when the younger blurted out, "We were trying to teach you we aren't always going to be good". What? Did I just hear that correctly? Yes, two young children tried to teach a college student a lesson in depravity. LOL. This one didn't even upset me. In fact, I had to stifle my laughter as I corrected them.
In another instance of sibling camaraderie, they both conveniently had a bowel movement at the exact same time. Not only that, but they assured me their Mom let them take their iPads in there with them, because, you know, "sometimes things take a while." That's just downright hilarious. Most of me wants to believe they truly needed a 25 minute potty break, but the other part of me believes they just wanted a little extra electronic time.
Now, as you can see, taking care of kids isn't all fun and games. It can really take a toll on a person. Like when you casually walk into the backyard and become suddenly aware of your vulnerability, your mind begins to race with paranoia thinking they might lock you outside. Now, you know that's completely irrational, because they've never even hinted at doing that before.
All in all, we had a great summer together. We laughed, we cried and we laughed some more. We had water balloon fights, created light saber popsicles, pretended to be master chefs, went to the library and park, summer morning movies and played countless rounds of hide-and-seek. Who knows? Maybe next summer we'll do it all again.
