Life In Pint-Sized Form

Lately, my life has been a whirlwind. Any stolen moment to sit on my balcony and watch the changing colours in High Park or watch the light change now that we’re back on Standard Time is so important to me. It’s easy to get lost in the everyday toss and turn of life in Toronto. Recently, someone posted an article on one of my online communities that implored everyone to slow down and appreciate each other, especially when using public transit.

I’m guilty of being impatient. The fast pace of this city means that I’m always rushing. Five minutes extra here so I can get my bagel and tea in the morning; five minutes early so I’m not late for Professor at school, five minutes extra at lunchtime so I can run to the pet store and pick up cat food. Every five minutes seems so important and when I don’t get my extra minutes, I get cranky and extra-rushed. I may scowl a little, or honk the horn at someone crossing too slowly on the street. It’s not in my nature to be impatient, and I don’t like who it turns me into.

I especially don’t like how I get impatient with Professor and Piglet. Lately, instead of a smile when I pick up Professor, the first words out of my mouth are “hurry up”. We normally don’t have anywhere to get to – my mind is on traffic or my growling stomach (I’m often starving by the time I get Professor – almost as much as he is!), and I want to get back to the Ps so I can see Piglet and Mama P, and help with dinner and play with the kids a little. I hate our afternoon commute pretty much as much as Professor does. We do our best to sing along to songs on the way home, or play car games, but we both want to be out of the car and doing something less boring, so we’re both impatient at this time.

I’ve tried to stop telling Professor to hurry up, because I actually like the way he appreciates small moments. Like when I come upon him playing with action figures in a dollhouse, making up his own stories. Or when he tries to present me with a picture and I brush him aside (this happened once; I’m still guilty about it. I apologized when his face fell and accepted it with grace and enthusiasm, but the damage had been done. Ugh. The many cringing moments of a rushed nanny!). He tends to drag his feet when putting on his coat because he wants to show me something, or he wants to chat about his day. I’m guilty of cutting it short (because I find it excruciating when he puts his coat on arm by arm and then takes ten minutes to do it up), but today I decided to be a little less aware of the time and just enjoy him.

And we had a quiet, pleasant ride home. He chattered to me about everything, all of his own accord. The drive was quick – only 15 minutes instead of the 20-25 minute drive we experience at 6 pm in Toronto rush hour. And I reconnected with him – I feel like I’m back on the same page.

I have learned that little children aren’t aware of time. They don’t mind if we’re five minutes late getting home or if bathtime has to be cut a little short. I have learned that although I live a fast-paced life, I have to take a break and appreciate the small stuff, too.

I’m glad I have these little moments of reflection. Seeing things through a child’s eyes never fails to make me stop and think, too.

I recently came back to this blog and saw that my last post had been in July sometime – that’s too long to go without blogging! Life is busy; my job keeps me hopping and the writing that I do professionally has taken up a lot of my time. However, days with Professor and Piglet are especially sweet, because they seem like a break from my crazy life. I feel like all I do is run around – and that means that the time I get with their smiles and laughter even more relaxing.

Piglet, now 27 months old, is talking up a storm. It never fails to amaze me because she speaks so clearly! She speaks in full sentences and nearly every word is understandable. What a lot of things that little girl has to say. She knows her colours, her letters, and her numbers up to 13. Piglet is also attempting to potty-train, and let me tell you, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten more excited about successes on the potty before. She loves to cuddle and read books, and lately I’ve even had her cry when I leave, because she wants Mommy to leave instead so I can stay longer! Though Piglet will (and always should) love Mommy best, it’s nice to feel wanted.

Professor, 5 years old and in Senior Kindergarten, is starting to read. We play spelling games in the car now, and he’s pretty quick to memorize spellings of simple words. He can read most simple picture books, and now instead of me reading to him at night, he reads to me. It’s wonderful to watch him do this because there are so many wonderful children’s classics I’d love to introduce him to. He seems like he’ll be a voracious reader! We’re in a calm phase with his manners – I hear “please, thank you, excuse me” almost constantly without prompting.

I’ve recently been pretty sick with the H1N1 virus, so I haven’t gotten a chance to spend as much time as I want with my favourite little kids. However, I’m on the mend, and as fall now turns into winter, I hope to get a lot more exciting moments to share with you all.

I just realized that it’s been an entire month since I last posted here. Oops! Life has been busy with the advent of summer here in Toronto! We’re in the midst of a city-wide garbage and civic activity strike, “full-time work” has ramped up for me, Professor is now off school and in day camp, and I’m not seeing him and his sister most days. However, I do sporadically nanny for them when Mama and Daddy P need a break from their two rambunctious kids! I love summer, but I find myself waiting for the fall so that I can see my two favourite charges again.

It was Piglet’s birthday last Saturday, and Professor’s birthday coming up in two weeks, so I wanted to take a moment and wish them all the best from someone who thinks a lot of them. I can’t believe that I’m coming up on 11 months with these guys – they’ve totally made my life a better one, and taught me a lot more about children, culture, and how to love someone who isn’t related to you, more dearly than ever! Thank you both for giving me these things, and for all the fun we’ve had thus far – many more fun times to come, I hope.

I recently nannied Piglet all by herself, and one of my friends came along for the ride. Piglet, normally a very egregarious child, was very quiet when C came to play that day! She clung to me, hid her face in my hair, and insisted on being either attached to my hip or on my lap – quite a difference from her normal self! Normally I can’t even hold her for five minutes – she’s off and running.

Professor sseems to be enjoying his day camp so far – and I’ll find out more about it next week when I get to do the pickup. Riding a subway with a child seems like a challenge (thus far, I’ve only driven him around in my own car), but I think I’m up for it. Truly, then I’ll be a real urban nanny!

Lately, Professor, Piglet, their parents and my life has been absolutely a-whirl with weddings, birthdays, parties and celebrations of the fact that it’s finally summer here in Toronto! After a horribly cold spring, we’ve just lately been getting warm temperatures and wonderful sunny days. Although it’s still been rainy a couple of days a week, at least we have some sun and that’s what counts when you’re suddenly stuck inside, finishing up that last bit of work, as I am, or looking longingly outside, waiting for school to be out, as Professor is!

We recently went to Mama P’s sister’s wedding, M, and her husband – Mr. M! It was a great time to see all the P’s cousins running around and to watch the little Ps in their wedding finery. Piglet was resplendent in a gorgeous white dress with “bees” (beads) as she called them, and kept pointing out to me, and Professor looked quite the dapper young man in his full wedding suit and slicked-back hair. However, their good clothes went cheerfully awry as my job quickly went from holding Piglet in my arms and Professor in my other hand, smiling at relatives, to ensuring that the Ps did not fall off an unfortunately placed rock by a wrought-iron fence. Professor was a bit under the weather, so when the time came for bedtime, I think we were all ready, most of all him!

I got to meet a lot of readers of this blog, which was really fun for me – thank you all for reading! Now I know who some of you are, and it gives me great pleasure to think about you reading these words and remembering your own fond memories of that wedding. Feel free to share your thoughts and feelings in the comments – I’m always glad to hear from people who read.

Anyway, after the Ps and I, and their cousins, the As, and little J, who came later on, went back to the hotel, the night truly began. Finery stripped off, little fists rubbing into tired eyes – the Ps were toast, and they weren’t going to let me have an easy time. Piglet would have been happy to fall off to sleep, but Professor was tetchy and sick and wanted to sleep beside his sister – which was fine, except that these are wiggly little children we’re talking about and they kept waking each other up! Piglet also has never really slept in a big bed before, and kept lunging awake, panicking, wondering where the sides of her safe, secure crib were! I had to practice my diving-without-a-pool skills a few times to catch her from lunging right off the side of the bed! She shivered in my arms at that point, slowly calming down from her dreams of falling. Poor little tyke.

Professor was in rough shape. He coughed, sneezed, gagged and tossed almost the entire time I was with him. Viruses are nasty things, but luckily he’s on the mend and I hope to see my bright little boy, back to his old self tomorrow.

It was my birthday Wednesday of last week and the Ps truly made it a special day for me. They knew that I was missing my best friend, who’s vacationing in South America, and Mama P went all out to ensure that I smiled! A cookie, dressed as a cake; a lovely Chapters gift card, and my favourite, a signed card by all the P family, really made my day and I was able to reflect on the fact that when you nanny, you don’t just have a job. You have another family. Thank you, all of you, for really making me feel like a special part of your lives.

I hope that as our summer goes on, I’ll have more and more stories to tell of events and holidays that I get to share with my two favourite little charges!

I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted – I got a new job and it’s been taking up the last two weeks of my time. No, I’m still with the Ps – and mighty glad to be! – but now that I’m working full-time again doing online content coordinating, I’ve got less time to blog. Thanks to everyone who’s contacted me, telling me that they’re looking forward to the next entry. I’ve got two on the way, so stay tuned!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! I love Mother’s Day – it gives me an excuse to really spoil all the moms in my life who have helped shape me the way I am. That includes moms I nanny for, most notably Mama P. This is an appreciation post for her. I couldn’t ask for a better employer to work for. She listens to me, she helps me rationalize problems, and she makes me feel so welcome into her family. Thank you, Mama P. And thanks for raising such wonderful kids that I get to spend time with every day!

For Mother’s Day this year, Professor and I decided that we’d make cupcakes for everyone to celebrate this lovely May day (if it’s a bit cold here). After realizing that we only had two eggs instead of one, and an accidental dumping in of a tablespoon of white vinegar (!!!!) instead of oil, I was pleased that the cupcakes turned out as well as they did! That was partly due to Professor’s help – he stirred that batter until it could be stirred no more and the spoon stuck up straight! I didn’t get to oversee the decorating, but Mama P let me know today that the kids had a great time decorating the cupcakes to match everyone’s individual personality. My favourite part of that day was seeing Professor’s face light up as he told his mother what we had done for her. I love surprising people; I’m glad he loves it, too, because asking an almost-five-year-old to keep a secret is asking for trouble!

I sent my own mom a nice planter for her office. I didn’t get to go home this weekend due to other obligations, but she called me and told me in detail for an hour what it looked like, down to the very last bloom and print on the mylar balloon that I attached at the last minute to the order!

I hope everyone’s Mother’s Day is great – a shout out to Sonja, L., and the moms who read from my other blog. You guys are great. I hope when I have kids, I’m as good of a mom as you all are.