The Explorer

For my first two weeks Leo is still home from school, but he does attend a day camp for half the day. Last week's schedule was different, as my daughter-in-law is not on her regular schedule for her first week. For the most part everything went well, and we are settling in to a routine.

On Friday we had an extra attraction for the boys when an ATT crew were working in a manhole out by the curb. They had two trucks, a ladder going down in to the manhole, and lots of equipment.

Playing in a large u-haul box on the porch left over from moving some things earlier this summer is a favorite game. Sitting in the rocker is my favorite activity while they play here.

This week I started my normal schedule, which usually begins about 8:15 am. Today they played quietly either inside or out, and were cheerful and cooperative. Leo is home in the mornings this week. I did some light housework and picking up. Leo usually sleeps later than David, who is always awake when I come. David likes to go outside and play a lot, usually first thing in the morning.

After Leo woke up, we all went back outside. The boys spent time out by the street looking at the trucks and the workman who emerged from the hole. Then they played in the magnolia tree, climbing on the lower branches, swinging, hanging and bouncing.

I made French toast for an early lunch, as Leo was going to camp at one. Leo teased his brother by first letting him wear a cap, then snatching it off and running away. David howled, but I found him another one and he seemed satisfied to wear it. When Leo heard that he had stopped crying, he came out to the driveway to see what was going on.

David walked under the trees lining the driveway and into the neighbor's yard. He wouldn't come back when I called him, so I had to go after him. I do have to keep an eye on him constantly, as he is an explorer, and pays no attention to where his own yard ends.

Then their dad came home to take Leo to camp. Leo complains about going this week because he says he's tired of it. After they left, I took David for a walk in his stroller and he fell asleep.

Most days I can get something done while David takes his nap, such as working on my checkbook or journaling.

Starting Out

My first official day as a nanny was a breeze.

8:15 am David was just waking up when I arrived. I changed his diaper and put on his shorts and shirt.
8:30 David's dad and five-year-old brother Leo leave for Leo's day camp.
8:45 David isn't hungry, so we head for a nearby park. Weather forecast is for extreme heat, with temperatures around 100, so best to go early today.
9:30 Home again and David has breakfast. He feeds himself cereal and has some juice while I have a cup of coffee.
9:45 David helps me unload clean dishes from the dishwasher. He likes to put utensils in drawers and stack plastic cups.
10:00 Back outside again in the back yard, watering the garden with water from the rain barrel. I put some water in David's smaller sprinkling can, and he helps, mostly by pouring his all in one spot. I show him some other plants that want a drink too. Then we pick up branches and carry them out to the pile at the curb.
10:45 Inside for a drink of water. It's already getting hot.
11:00 Back outside I sit in a rocker on the front porch while he plays with a truck. David loves being outdoors, but today the heat seems to slow him down a bit. Usually he can make it down to the street in the wink of an eye, so he has to be watched constantly. For now the heat is bearable as long as we stay in the shade.
11:00 Inside again, reading a story.
12:30 Dad brings Leo home from camp, then goes back to work. I'm making lunch.
1:00 pm After lunch of mac and cheese, grapes and milk we're back out in the yard again to look for Leo who has decided to hide from us. But just briefly, because the baking heat soon takes him back in the house, and David discovers Leo under the covers of his bed.

2:30 David's getting sleepy. After watching some PBS kids shows with Leo, and a story-book, I manage to get him down for his nap.
3:15 Mom arrives home.

So far, so good, we've made a good start. David was cheerful and cooperative. It helps that he has gotten used to me since I moved here earlier this summer and I have taken care of him a number of times already.

Granny Nanny

I've just started a position as a nanny for a two-year-old. A year ago I couldn't have imagined this, but then a lot has changed for me from last year, as it has for so many people.

But it definitely would have been a stretch. So how did it happen? I had been self-employed for the past five years or so, since leaving my last position as a pastor in a Protestant denomination. That had always been touch and go, up and down from the beginning. But when the recession hit about the end of 2007, things gradually went down hill for the most part financially. It really was a whole series of things that seemed to impact me, but most noticably in 2008 when fuel prices rose so high and didn't got down, things became very difficult.

The problems were mostly caused by my having borrowed money for my business on credit cards, always assuming that once the business was established I would pay off. Over the first several years I still had a quite a bit of savings and investment from IRAs in reserve that I used to make up shortfalls, pay health insurance and so on. But in 2008 I was hit with a high tax bill, then I had this cash flow crunch due to falling income, and the markets began dropping. I realized that my reserves would no longer be the cushion I had counted on.

I am a single woman, 61 years old with two grown children who are married, but were living a distance from where I was. On my semi-annual vacation visit last summer, my daughter-in-law asked if I might like to move to where they lived. I had been coming out for years, but had never considered a move because I had always hoped they would move back to the Midwest, (as her parents did). Suddenly it seemed like a sensible move, so when I went home I listed my condo for sale. Since I had some equity in it, I thought the sale would cover both moving and also give me some funds to pay down the debts.

Only it didn't sell. Initially I got an offer that my realtor considered so low-ball that it wasn't worth a formal counter. The person actually came back with a higher one a couple weeks later, but again I hesitated, since the offer was so much lower than what seemed to be the market value at that time. Bad mistake, because it would be the only offer for a long time. The news with real estate and then banking only went from bad to worse until the financial crisis of September.

Meanwhile I was under an extreme amount of stress due to my cash flow issues. I felt like I was painted into the corner, hemmed in and unable to make any move that would improve the situation.

Then in October disaster struck, when I received a diagnosis of breast cancer. I had a lumpectomy and radiation treatment. Over Christmas I was able to spend the holiday with both of my children and their families including my five grandchildren. To me, being with them was the best medicine I could have.

I made a definite decision to move to where my son and daughter in law lived, and that I would do whatever it took to sell my condo and go. It took months, but eventually I received an offer that was way lower than the one I had rejected last year; but I took it.

And then my son and his wife asked if I would consider being a nanny for their younger son. So that's how I became a nanny, because my family like so many others is doing what we can to help each other get through these times.

And I am just so blessed, thankful and grateful to have this fantastic opportunity.

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