Compare and Contrast

I have now been a nanny for over a month and a half, with my new family. I work with an adorable 18 month little girl named Ashvini. I've started comparing my experience with Alex last year and with Ashvini this year.

Here are the similarities:

-Alex was an only child,and the first grandchild, Ashvini is an only child and the first grandchild, as a result they both received grandparent gifts pretty regularly.

-Alex didn't talk, and Ashvini doesn't talk yet.

-Alex screamed with joy when he saw a dog, and Ashvini won't take her eyes off it.

Here are the differences:

-Alex loved being tickled, Ashvini hates being tickled. When I tickle her she laughs then with a stern look tells me, "No, no no."

- When I let Alex climb up the stairs by himself, he was so happy. When I let Ashvini climb up the stairs, she looks at me as if saying, "Are you seriously going to make me do this? You know you can just carry me right?'

-Alex loved making messes, and Ashvini loves cleaning messes up. What an amazing child!

I love seeing these similarities, and differences. I love seeing different personalities come out and become more defined. There is one difference that I just can't account for.

When I was Alex's nanny I was often mistaken for his mother. I would constantly be told that he looked just like me. I started to say thank you and move on, it was so much easier then correcting them. One of my favorite examples, was when a woman told me I got my figure back so quickly. I walked away with a hop in my step. But this never seems to happen with Ashvini. People just instinctively know I'm the nanny.

Alex

Huh. I guess I just don't get it.

Ashvini

One More Weekend with the Girls

I spent this weekend with those three little girls while their parents went made a quick trip to Utah. It seemed to go by so quickly and, it was a lot of fun. This weekend I was much more prepared. I brought my camera.

Friday we headed out to Target to buy some chalk, and then go to the park. As we were about to head out the I remembered my mom telling me, "There are some battles worth fighting. If it isn't worth it, don't fight it." I decided this wasn't worth it.

(Please notice the the 3 year old's tutu, the 8 year old's two shirts that just weren't supposed to be worn together, and the 6 year old's two toys that she "just had to bring!" not to mention her hair).

Here is our fun at the park.

We had flowers and rainbows, and polka dot snakes. We played a mean game of hopscotch on till the 8 year old lost her lucky rock. We decided that one of the lost boys probably took it and then her gave it to Peter Pan. Secretly i blame the 3 year old.

We collected a bunch of rolly pollies and I sang "Little Black Things"

And then we took a couple beauty shots.

For the next to days we hung around the house, watched TV, and played a lot of Uno. Every now and then we broke out the camera again. This is the average photography inspiration.



One of the high lights that day was when the 8 year old decided to make us a snack. After hearing what she had in mind, namely making it up as she went along, I decided to supervise.

The recipe of our snack

1st Boil peanut butter in water, until it simmer down to a paste.

2nd Add crumbled butter crackers and chocolate teddy grahams.

3rd Decide it's to thick and add more water.
4th Add honey

Serve while hot, with popcorn. It is actually surprisingly good. The teddy grahams were soggy but once you get past that, I enjoyed it.

YUM!

After church we went to my mom's house to have dinner. Our main course was Hawaiian Haystacks. Of course, if my mom does something fun, it is always done with flair. As we came into the kitchen, ready to eat dinner, we saw a beautifully laid table and Haywain leis for the girls. They also found cute little post its shaped in the first letter of their name. It was so fun to see how much they loved it. Later that night, when their parents came home, that was the first thing that they started talking about.

It was a really fun weekend and I know that we all had fun together. It was also fun to see their reactions to when their parents came home. In a word, "Hurray."

She's Not My Kid!

Every little girl has played house before. They pretended to make dinner, and to watch up the babies. They waited until Daddy got home and then everyone went to bed, just to do the same thing over again the next day.

This weekend I got to play house, and I even had three little girls following me around calling me mommy. No joke, they all called me mommy. I don't think any of them even know my name. Once I reminded the middle child that my name was "Tressa", or "Babysitter" i needed, but she told me that, "she knew my name wasn't mommy, but we could pretend it was." Honestly how can you argue with that. So for four days three blond little girls following me around saying, "Can I push the elevator button mommy." (Sometimes they would call me mother if we were playing princess.)

The two oldest girls told me what love really is right at bad time. One said, "I don't like boys, except for this boy named Zach... He's five!" and then she giggled in the most girly voice. the oldest and more mature girl said, "I know I'm in love, because I read in a book that love feels like you got ran over by a truck. That's what I feel."

This last one made me laugh. When Deborah and I feel gross and ugly we often say, "I feel like I just got hit by a Truck." Who knew we were just in love.

It was a very fun weekend, and I started to really get used to being called mommy. Of course every now and then I didn't like it. Like the time we went to the library, and the littlest refused to keep her old diaper on, and we didn't have an extra. She went around the library flashing everyone because she was wearing a dress. then as we got ready to go she began to scream that she didn't want to go. then she screamed that she needed this book.(It was Street Car Named Desire, I thought that might be a little out of her range.) As we were walking out of the library, with the little girl flashing everyone, she screamed, "Mommy I don't want to go!!!" All I wanted to do was look at the lady next to me and say, "She's not my kid." but you know, I think a lot of people wouldn't have believed me.

That's Idaho for You

Well I got through the rexburg winters, with all of my digits, which is a bit of a miracle. It was cold and snowing, and there was plenty of falling down to be had by all. There were some frustrating days, when I would wake up and think spring was here, only to find an inch of snow after I finished breakfast.

Deborah told me that there are days in Rexburg where you experience all four seasons in the course of the day. It's true. I secretly thought that once winter semester was over, I'd be done with bizarre weather patterns. I was very wrong.

We have been experiencing rain. I mean lots of rain. Now that's not the weird thing. The weird thing is you never know when its coming, and your never know when its going to go. for the last couple storms, the rain has come in an instant. And while we stand outside in the rain we look out into the sky and see blue sky.

One day it began to rain and hale at our dorm. I looked out at the Taylor building, which is a three minute walk form where I live, and saw to my amazement blue sky and clouds so white and fluffy they seem to only be there for decoration.

Honestly its kind of fun. I mean I'll be walking to class and get sprinkles in the face. I won't know if its from the sprinklers, or the rain. It adds a little mystery to life.

One of These Things is Not Like the Other.

I remember the first time all of my roommates sat around together to eat. I looked at my roommates and thought, "One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just does not belong." I live in an apartment with a lot of, well lets say, Mexican influence.

Andy is a Mexican citizen and loves Mexico. When I'm talking to her, she will say things like, "That is what I don't get about Americans," or "You Americans are so, well I'm not going to say." She isn't antagoistic or anything, she is just patriotic. Andy is my psychiatrist. She is a Pychology major and loves to analyze people. When I come to her with a problem, she will come at my with something like, "You know you are very competative, so maybe you should remember that when you talk to her."

(Sorry Andy I only had pictures of you sticking out your tongue!)

Deborah described andy as the perfect latin woman. Whenever we have a cooking question we deffer to Andy. Today for example, she cut the watermellon, becasue I didn't know how. She is the one who knows when the meat is done and gets my zipper unstuck when I'm ready to cut my skirt off with scissors, more than any of us. I love Andy.

Nelva is from Chicago. Her parents are from Mexico, and she went to high school in Mexico with Andy. Nelva is logical. She likes understanding how and why thing work. Her major is mechanical engineering. Whenever she tells someone her major they always give her a look. That is a boy major, and you don't see many girls inthe Austen building. No she is not in that major to get a husband. She just likes understanding how things work.

The funny thing is, as much as Nelva like to be logical, she loves superheros. When she is one with her homework she treats herself to an episode of X-Men. Nelva has given us all super powers and evne made mock-ups of our super hero costumes. My super power is the power of persuasion. She is sad I can't blow anything up, but I like it alot, and I love Nelva.

Vicky is from Arizona, but her parents are from Mexico. She goes down there on vacation. Vicky is the girl to go to if you need any suggestions on hair, make-up, or outfits. Not only can she make a great outfit out of nothing, she has the ability to kindly tell you your outfit stinks. That is a true skill. Vicky and I are both the fourth kid in a fmily of five. We will sit and talk about the joys of sisters, and sibling ettiquite.

I love having Vicky in the apartment. If she wasn't there then we would talk a lot about hanging out with people, but we probably wouldn't do nearly as much of it. I love Vicky.

(I love this picture. After we took it, We looked at it and I was sad becasue you couldn't see my face. Nelva said, "Yeah tressa, your just to white." She misunderstood. I was talking about the hair in my face.)

Sometimes I feel like the minority in this apartment, and that I just don't know anythng. Here are some things I never knew: You can serve tortillas with just about any meal. You can curl your eye lashes with a spoon, but be careful, because suddenly you might not have any lashes. Some dysney songs are better in spanish. Finally my personal favorite, a woman is ready to get married, only when she knows how to cook rice. I am not ready to get married.

The funny thing is, while it's always noticable when my hair in particular, is caught in the drain, I don't feel like the odd man out. I feel very incuded, and cared for. I mean, if I ever feel completly awful, they sit me down nad comfort me with love and food.

I love my roommates

It Finally Happened

Well it finally happened. I didn't think it would happen so soon but it did. I have... A boyfriend. I know! Crazy!

His name is Shane, He was in a class with one of my roommates, and all of a sudden he started showing up at our apartment. It wasn't long before we would expect him and be a little disappointed if he didn't show up that day. He doesn't have a cell phone, adn is never near his apartment phone, so I used to call him our Phantom Friend. I also call him the apartment pet, but that's for a different reason. Just as a reference point, he was the boy who told me he loved me and then burst into laughter. Anyway I loved him coming over after that, because he just became an incredible friend. I thought it was so easy to talk to him.

One of the best things about our relationship, was that I did not feel threatened by him at all. We were just friends, and I never questioned his motives for a moment! Apparently I was out of the loop. I mean really out of the loop. While I never questioned his motives, every one else did. Everybody, including Deborah, knew he liked me, but knew that I just thought of him as a friend, so nothing was going to happen.

Anyway to make a very long story short, about a week and a half ago, I made some realizations about Shane. I started thinking that holding his hand didn't sound that bad. In fact I really liked the idea. Then I really started hating the idea of him liking and dating other girls.

Then to push me over the edge, he came to our apartment really frustrated. He said he felt like he shouldn't come over anymore. My roommates seemed to see this coming, but I was completely shocked by it. That idea put a huge pit in my stomach. That night Andy, my roommate/psychiatrist told me I needed to stop flirting with Shane because I wasn't being fair to him.

Faced with the idea of liking a boy, I began freaking out. I developed a stomach ulcer. When Shane finally showed up at my apartment after a few days, my imaginary stomach ulcer got bigger. Shane seemed defensive, and prickly, but once he warmed up he told me the reason he didn't want to come by anymore was because he liked me and he knew he didn't have a chance.

He was much more eloquent then I was. I said something like, "Well I have a confession to make. I started to feel... you know... It's like I, well even since Tuesday... Wow this is hard. I guess I'm trying to say, I like you. I like, like you in the way that holding your hand isn't a bad idea."

Shane is so sweet. He is so considerate, and patient when I have trouble expressing my feeling in a coherent sentence. Above all I feel so safe with him. It is so easy to be myself around him, and the best thing is he brings out my best self.

Anyway, I don't know what will happen next week or even next month when I go home, but right now I'm just enjoying spending time with my umm boyfriend.

We Just Want Some Food!!

Today we had one of those college adventures that everybody remembers. We just wanted to get some food. Today Vicky got a text that said Craigo's (an amazing pizza restaurant) had an all you can eat buffet for five dollars! This past week and a half we have all gone through phases of wanting to eat everything in sight. We thought this would be a good opportunity to fulfill the fansticy. (Vicky brought a big purse and zip lock bags. she was going to eat Craigo's for the rest of the week.)



Well we finally got into the car at around 9pm. All buckled up and ready to go, Vicky turned to the key, and nothing. Her car wouldn't start! The weird thing was her lights started flashing and the car made a clicking noise.



Still with a strong desire for Craigo's we changed our nice shoes for tennis shoes and started walking. It really is a short walk, but we are all starving and craving pizza. Andy thought about hitch hiking but nobody seemed to want to pick us up. Finally we saw the beautiful sign. We rushed to the door and just as we got to the door the open sign turned off!



We stared at the sign and the people inside the restaurant eating the pizza that was meant for us. Is was heartbreaking. By this time we were in some serious need of food, so we crossed the street to subway. The lights were off. It closed at 10pm. That was depressing.

Well how about Jack in the box? We went down the street, almost to the edge of town, towards Jack in the box. As we got to the parking lot, the woman behind the counter ran towards the door, and locked it. Jack in the box closes at 10pm.

Finally in desperation we went to McDonald's. We were so afraid that McDonald's would be closed. We were running out of restaurants in rexburg. Desperation set in when we saw that McDonald's was empty and a boy was sweeping up the play area. But we tried the door and it was a miracle. It opened. We lined up and all ordered off of the dollar menu.

We loved our food.