Today is my last day babysitting Aubrey.
I have discovered I have zero desire to ever run my own day care. I had never planned on doing that, but I think it's something that many stay at home moms think of, however fleetingly, as a possibility in case you find yourself in need of more cash. The idea occured to me once or twice, never very seriously, but I now know that I will not do that. Not even for a good friend. I think that my friendship with Erin's has been slightly awkwardized (shut up, it's a word) by the fact that I'm working for her. I think of it as doing her a favour (heck at $34 a day, it is a favour), but essentially I guess I am working for her.
That's not the only reason I don't want to do this again. It's also the actual act of babysitting. An afternoon every once in while wouldn't be too bad. But knowing that one or two days every week, I am tied down to my house all day with an extra kid who isn't mine... it doesn't sound like much, but I have found that I just don't like it.
It's not that Aubrey is bad. She's a very good, sweet little girl, and very similar to Noah. They get along quite well, except for the fact that she is a drama queen and overreacts to almost everything. Sometimes she'll start crying like Noah is pulling her hair out, when he's just trying to give her a gentle hug.
(I admit that that could be part of the reason I haven't loved the babysitting so much. I don't like seeing my son get rejected for being a little sweetie-pie ;)
But really, it's mostly because after having my very own baby, I don't have that much interest in other people's babies. Before having Noah, I always wanted to hug, kiss, hold, play with, and change the diapers of other people's babies. Since having him, I have no interest in that. Nobody's kid is as cool as my kid (in my eyes, anyway). And it's funny how things that don't gross me out about Noah do gross me out about other babies. I can wipe food off of Noah's mouth and lick it off my finger. I don't think twice. If Noah accidentally pees on my floor, I'm not disgusted. Noah can drool in my mouth, I don't care. His snot isn't gross, it's just another part of him.
I guess nothing really grosses me out about Noah because he's such a part of me. Literally. My body made him. And his whole life he has either gotten him nutrition through me from nursing, or he has eaten pretty much exactly the same food I eat. So I basically see him as an extension of myself. Actually, I probably find him less gross than I find myself!
However, despite my relief about being done babysitting her, I am sad that they are leaving. Noah loves Aubrey. It'll be sad to not having them living across the street anymore.
Showing posts with label Babysitting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Babysitting. Show all posts
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
My Birthday
My birthday was great, as I anticipated.
I was supposed to go out for lunch with Erin and Aubrey, but I had been babysitting Aubrey the day before, and she unfortunately ended up fulfilling my diagnosis of having the flu. She was very fussy all day Tuesday, wouldn't eat much, and threw up the small amount she did eat - but the amount of barf was small, and could have just been spit up. So when Erin called me a few hours after picking her up and told me that Aubrey threw up her entire huge dinner (and proceeded to spew enormous amounts of vomit all night long), I was sadly proven correct. We appropriately cancelled our lunch plans on Wednesday, and I have been living in fear ever since that one or more of the three members of this family - two of whom were exposed to Aubrey for a good 8 hours while she had the flu - would get sick and start throwing up. Again. Seriously, I wouldn't be able to take it.
It's Friday now, and she was here on Tuesday... I think we're in the clear, yes? Happy birthday to me!
So lunch was cancelled, and I just spent the day hanging out with my best little dude. Noah was lots of fun, of course.
My parents came over at about 2:30 and stayed until 5:30 (my Dad was working nights that night). They brought dinner and a cake. Justin trained a client until 4:30, then had to shower, so we ate as soon as he was clean.
After my parents left I was suddenly inspired to clean and reorganize under my kitchen sink. This necessitated me cleaning and reorganizing the bottom of our bathroom closet. This might sound like a horrible birthday project, but I am obsessed with organizing and cleaning right now, so it was actually perfect. And I am so happy with the organization under my kitchen sink that I just keep opening the cupboards to gaze lovingly at its neatness (this is annoying, considering we have child-locks on our cupboards. If not for those, I would probably gaze into those cupboards about 4 times more often).
While I was finishing that up, Justin bathed Noah and got him ready for bed. I nursed him to sleep, and then Justin and I hung out for the rest of the evening, as per usual. Honestly, I have no clue what we watched on TV or what we did, other than eating our favourite ice cream. I think this is weird, because it's only been 2 days, but whatever.
So yeah, good birthday. It's not so much that so many outstandingly wonderful things happened. It was pretty much a normal day. And I suppose there was even the "disappointment" of a cancelled lunch date. It's just that after going through infertility and then being blessed with Noah, I feel like I've lost any sense of "entitlement" on my birthday. I just don't feel like it has to be this perfect, special day that's all about Lauren. Heck, I'd make my own birthday dinner and cake. I really don't care. I'm just happy to spend the day with people I love.
And I did that:)
I was supposed to go out for lunch with Erin and Aubrey, but I had been babysitting Aubrey the day before, and she unfortunately ended up fulfilling my diagnosis of having the flu. She was very fussy all day Tuesday, wouldn't eat much, and threw up the small amount she did eat - but the amount of barf was small, and could have just been spit up. So when Erin called me a few hours after picking her up and told me that Aubrey threw up her entire huge dinner (and proceeded to spew enormous amounts of vomit all night long), I was sadly proven correct. We appropriately cancelled our lunch plans on Wednesday, and I have been living in fear ever since that one or more of the three members of this family - two of whom were exposed to Aubrey for a good 8 hours while she had the flu - would get sick and start throwing up. Again. Seriously, I wouldn't be able to take it.
It's Friday now, and she was here on Tuesday... I think we're in the clear, yes? Happy birthday to me!
So lunch was cancelled, and I just spent the day hanging out with my best little dude. Noah was lots of fun, of course.
My parents came over at about 2:30 and stayed until 5:30 (my Dad was working nights that night). They brought dinner and a cake. Justin trained a client until 4:30, then had to shower, so we ate as soon as he was clean.
After my parents left I was suddenly inspired to clean and reorganize under my kitchen sink. This necessitated me cleaning and reorganizing the bottom of our bathroom closet. This might sound like a horrible birthday project, but I am obsessed with organizing and cleaning right now, so it was actually perfect. And I am so happy with the organization under my kitchen sink that I just keep opening the cupboards to gaze lovingly at its neatness (this is annoying, considering we have child-locks on our cupboards. If not for those, I would probably gaze into those cupboards about 4 times more often).
While I was finishing that up, Justin bathed Noah and got him ready for bed. I nursed him to sleep, and then Justin and I hung out for the rest of the evening, as per usual. Honestly, I have no clue what we watched on TV or what we did, other than eating our favourite ice cream. I think this is weird, because it's only been 2 days, but whatever.
So yeah, good birthday. It's not so much that so many outstandingly wonderful things happened. It was pretty much a normal day. And I suppose there was even the "disappointment" of a cancelled lunch date. It's just that after going through infertility and then being blessed with Noah, I feel like I've lost any sense of "entitlement" on my birthday. I just don't feel like it has to be this perfect, special day that's all about Lauren. Heck, I'd make my own birthday dinner and cake. I really don't care. I'm just happy to spend the day with people I love.
And I did that:)
(Please excuse my appearance, I wasn't really camera ready:)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
My First Day as a "Daycare" Provider
So, I had my first day as Aubrey's daycare provider today. All in all it went well.
Solids - Meals were a bit of a gong show because I don't have two high chairs and Noah would never tolerate me feeding Aubrey without him in a highchair eating, too. Aubrey had to eat in a bumbo on a kitchen chair while I gave Noah finger foods. Doing that twice (well, doing that even once) was not amazing. And Aubrey hasn't been a great eater since she's been sick, so that made it less fun.
Nursing - It worked out today that I did all of Noah's nursing while Aubrey was in bed or with someone else. My parents came over at 2 because they'd been gone on a cruise, so they watched Aubrey while I nursed Noah and put him down for his second nap. All his other nursings were while Aubrey was either sleeping or Erin was over at lunchtime nursing her.
Naps - Noah performed as expected and freaked out while I was getting Aubrey in her sleep sack and cuddling her (for like 10 seconds!) before her first nap. He was sleeping when I did this for her second nap. But Aubrey slept well, an hour and a half for the first nap and half an hour for the second nap (she's been apparently phasing this nap out, so Erin was surprised she took it at all). Her first nap was at 9:40 until 11:15. Noah didn't go down for his first nap until 10:35, and he woke up at 11:20. Luckily Aubrey woke up first, so I was able to change her bum and her clothes before Noah got up (and could freak out again).
Myself - My house was a mess and I hardly had time to eat the entire day. That was less than ideal. I felt so much more "go-go-go" than I am with just one baby (and even one baby is busy). But it wasn't bad.
Aubrey was a total sweetie-pie. She's a big cuddler, and cuddles with me probably 10x more than my own kid does!!! She even cuddled with my mom the second my mom picked her up. It was so nice. Noah loves to cuddle, but his version of cuddling is climbing all over me and hugging me while standing and giving me kisses. Aubrey will literally just sit in your lap hugging you with her head on your chest for like 15 minutes. Noah hasn't done that since he could lift up his head!
All in all, it was fine. But I wouldn't want to do it everyday for only $34. It's worth a lot more than that. If we didn't need the money, I probably wouldn't do it. But I can handle once or twice a week. And it wasn't as crazy as I anticipated. It's like having twins for 8 hours of the day. If it was my own set of twins and I had grown into it (instead of just suddenly having 2 kids each about 11 months old) I think it'd be more than fine. But it is definitely busier. You're really on your toes with the feedings and the naps and the diaper changes and the making sure they don't kill each other.
By accident, of course.
Solids - Meals were a bit of a gong show because I don't have two high chairs and Noah would never tolerate me feeding Aubrey without him in a highchair eating, too. Aubrey had to eat in a bumbo on a kitchen chair while I gave Noah finger foods. Doing that twice (well, doing that even once) was not amazing. And Aubrey hasn't been a great eater since she's been sick, so that made it less fun.
Nursing - It worked out today that I did all of Noah's nursing while Aubrey was in bed or with someone else. My parents came over at 2 because they'd been gone on a cruise, so they watched Aubrey while I nursed Noah and put him down for his second nap. All his other nursings were while Aubrey was either sleeping or Erin was over at lunchtime nursing her.
Naps - Noah performed as expected and freaked out while I was getting Aubrey in her sleep sack and cuddling her (for like 10 seconds!) before her first nap. He was sleeping when I did this for her second nap. But Aubrey slept well, an hour and a half for the first nap and half an hour for the second nap (she's been apparently phasing this nap out, so Erin was surprised she took it at all). Her first nap was at 9:40 until 11:15. Noah didn't go down for his first nap until 10:35, and he woke up at 11:20. Luckily Aubrey woke up first, so I was able to change her bum and her clothes before Noah got up (and could freak out again).
Myself - My house was a mess and I hardly had time to eat the entire day. That was less than ideal. I felt so much more "go-go-go" than I am with just one baby (and even one baby is busy). But it wasn't bad.
Aubrey was a total sweetie-pie. She's a big cuddler, and cuddles with me probably 10x more than my own kid does!!! She even cuddled with my mom the second my mom picked her up. It was so nice. Noah loves to cuddle, but his version of cuddling is climbing all over me and hugging me while standing and giving me kisses. Aubrey will literally just sit in your lap hugging you with her head on your chest for like 15 minutes. Noah hasn't done that since he could lift up his head!
All in all, it was fine. But I wouldn't want to do it everyday for only $34. It's worth a lot more than that. If we didn't need the money, I probably wouldn't do it. But I can handle once or twice a week. And it wasn't as crazy as I anticipated. It's like having twins for 8 hours of the day. If it was my own set of twins and I had grown into it (instead of just suddenly having 2 kids each about 11 months old) I think it'd be more than fine. But it is definitely busier. You're really on your toes with the feedings and the naps and the diaper changes and the making sure they don't kill each other.
By accident, of course.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Will I Eat My Words?
Remember a couple of months back when I said that I wish Noah had a twin? Well, we're about to find out if I take that back or not.
I've mentioned my good friend Erin and her daughter Aubrey who live across the street. Aubrey is 3 weeks older than Noah. Erin works 2 days a week (Tuesday and Thursday - down from full-time pre-baby and down from 4 days a week when Aubrey was about 7 months old). Aubrey has been in a daycare that is actually at Erin's work since Erin's husband Mark went back to work at the beginning of January (he took 4 months of parental leave). Are we following?
Well, ever since her first day in daycare, Aubrey has been sick. After the first day she ended up with pneumonia! She lost 2 lbs (which, for a 21 lb baby is a lot) in a few days, and if she wasn't breastfed her doctor would have put her in the hospital. Then, after she recovered from pneumonia, she ended up with a double eye infection.
Erin and Mark (and Erin's two doctor parents) have had enough of this business, so Erin asked me if I would be interested in watching Aubrey 1-2 times a week (Mark works shift, so he's sometimes home on the days Erin works). They pay $34 a day at Generations, her current daycare, so that was the price they were looking for.
$34 a day isn't much. And if it was anybody else, I would have just said no. But, after talking to Erin about naptime logistics, I agreed to give it a try. Here are my reasons:
1. I love Aubrey. I've been hanging around her a couple of times a week since she was in the womb. I have an actual attachment to her. And I've felt so sad for her that she's been so sick. And she's a pretty easy, happy, goofy baby. If she was another Noah (separation anxiety wise), I don't think I'd do it.
2. It's only 1-2 days a week. It's not like I'm tied down because of someone else's baby everyday for the entire week.
3. I'm just at home pretty much everyday anyway, so does it really matter if it's only $34 a day? I don't have to provide her food or anything. $34 a day is still something when I'd be doing pretty much the same thing I do everyday now anyway. My maternity leave pay is gone in about a month and a half, and even taking in just $200 extra each month will be helpful.
4. Noah loves other kids. He and Aubrey are best buds, and I think he'd enjoy having Aubrey here once or twice a week all day, plus the times Erin and I get together for a tea/playdate.
I have two concerns with the situation. One is how Noah will do when I'm busy with Aubrey. He is so attached to me and has such bad separation anxiety. And sometimes he will completely lose it if he thinks I'm leaving. I think having Aubrey around might actually make it easier for me to switch laundry from the washer to the dryer or go to the bathroom, since Noah will have a playmate and distraction. But if I have to take Aubrey (who goes down for her naps a little bit earlier than Noah) to her room for naptime, Noah will likely lose his mind.
My other concern is the fact that Noah is still nursed every 2 hours during the day (and I'm not about to change that for this situation), so what do I do with Aubrey while he's nursing? He's distractable, so if she's playing with toys right in front of us, he wouldn't nurse very well. She's okay with the exersaucer/jumperoo, so I guess I could throw her in there and go to the next room. But that feels mean to do to her 4 times a day.
Breastfeeding Twin Mamas - what do you do?
So I guess those are my only two concerns. What do I do with Aubrey while I'm breastfeeding my distractable son, and how will Noah react if I'm doing something with Aubrey and he's "left out." I'm not really concerned about the fact that I'll have two extremely mobile speed crawlers and cruisers. My house is extremely baby proofed, so I can handle mobility.
I have Aubrey 2 1/2 days this week. Tuesday, Thursday, and a half day on Friday. Any advice?
I've mentioned my good friend Erin and her daughter Aubrey who live across the street. Aubrey is 3 weeks older than Noah. Erin works 2 days a week (Tuesday and Thursday - down from full-time pre-baby and down from 4 days a week when Aubrey was about 7 months old). Aubrey has been in a daycare that is actually at Erin's work since Erin's husband Mark went back to work at the beginning of January (he took 4 months of parental leave). Are we following?
Well, ever since her first day in daycare, Aubrey has been sick. After the first day she ended up with pneumonia! She lost 2 lbs (which, for a 21 lb baby is a lot) in a few days, and if she wasn't breastfed her doctor would have put her in the hospital. Then, after she recovered from pneumonia, she ended up with a double eye infection.
Erin and Mark (and Erin's two doctor parents) have had enough of this business, so Erin asked me if I would be interested in watching Aubrey 1-2 times a week (Mark works shift, so he's sometimes home on the days Erin works). They pay $34 a day at Generations, her current daycare, so that was the price they were looking for.
$34 a day isn't much. And if it was anybody else, I would have just said no. But, after talking to Erin about naptime logistics, I agreed to give it a try. Here are my reasons:
1. I love Aubrey. I've been hanging around her a couple of times a week since she was in the womb. I have an actual attachment to her. And I've felt so sad for her that she's been so sick. And she's a pretty easy, happy, goofy baby. If she was another Noah (separation anxiety wise), I don't think I'd do it.
2. It's only 1-2 days a week. It's not like I'm tied down because of someone else's baby everyday for the entire week.
3. I'm just at home pretty much everyday anyway, so does it really matter if it's only $34 a day? I don't have to provide her food or anything. $34 a day is still something when I'd be doing pretty much the same thing I do everyday now anyway. My maternity leave pay is gone in about a month and a half, and even taking in just $200 extra each month will be helpful.
4. Noah loves other kids. He and Aubrey are best buds, and I think he'd enjoy having Aubrey here once or twice a week all day, plus the times Erin and I get together for a tea/playdate.
I have two concerns with the situation. One is how Noah will do when I'm busy with Aubrey. He is so attached to me and has such bad separation anxiety. And sometimes he will completely lose it if he thinks I'm leaving. I think having Aubrey around might actually make it easier for me to switch laundry from the washer to the dryer or go to the bathroom, since Noah will have a playmate and distraction. But if I have to take Aubrey (who goes down for her naps a little bit earlier than Noah) to her room for naptime, Noah will likely lose his mind.
My other concern is the fact that Noah is still nursed every 2 hours during the day (and I'm not about to change that for this situation), so what do I do with Aubrey while he's nursing? He's distractable, so if she's playing with toys right in front of us, he wouldn't nurse very well. She's okay with the exersaucer/jumperoo, so I guess I could throw her in there and go to the next room. But that feels mean to do to her 4 times a day.
Breastfeeding Twin Mamas - what do you do?
So I guess those are my only two concerns. What do I do with Aubrey while I'm breastfeeding my distractable son, and how will Noah react if I'm doing something with Aubrey and he's "left out." I'm not really concerned about the fact that I'll have two extremely mobile speed crawlers and cruisers. My house is extremely baby proofed, so I can handle mobility.
I have Aubrey 2 1/2 days this week. Tuesday, Thursday, and a half day on Friday. Any advice?
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