Dulcy's Nanny Diaries

As inspired by the book Nanny Diaries that I have been listening to on CD, I am going to start writing little tid bits about my escapades as a nanny which I have been meaning to do ever since the first time I heard my 3-year-old I watch speak in second person because that's all he hears people do to him saying about himself, "You poopin'." You can imagine my feeling of shock and then, once realizing that he was not telling me that I was pooping but that he was pooping, absolute hilarity. I watch three kids for two different families mainly as well as some random families here and there. One family that I work more hours for, has a just-started-walking 14-month-old who is beginning to talk constantly attempting to replicate my words when we read together, and an almost 3-year-old who is obsessed with clocks, numbers, traffic lights, and Bob the Builder (he can tell time better than me). The other family has one child, also 14-months-old who is one of the happiest and also most vocal little guys I have ever met and he pretty much chatters and screams and smiles the whole six hours I am with him. All three are boys. I feel like every time I am with them goofy, silly, and humorous things inevitably occur. When you are working with kids, especially toddlers and preschoolers, you cannot help but spend a decent amount of time laughing your head off with them or ducking around a corner to laugh at something they did without them seeing you.

I find it easier and easier to believe that a parent can love a child so much. I see each of these little boys no more than 12 hours a week each, yet I inexpressibly adore them. When they take their first steps, form first words, go potty in the "big toilet" for the first time, cuddle with me while I read them a book, fall asleep nestled in my arms as I rock them and gently sing lullabies, I realize that I am so proud, fond, and delighted by them. They each let me give them kisses and then so adorably lean in for more, snuggle when I hug them, reach their little arms heavenward to be picked up in my arms, giggle angelically as I toss them into the air, and smile with sheer joy when I offer them clapping games or a new song. Each little boy is absolutely darling when they are really being themselves and I have begun to see that I love them so much and probably annoy and bore a lot of people with the amount that I talk about them. I guess I am mildy worried while simultaneously excited to know that when I have my own children, my love for them will be that much more intense, my pride will encompass so much more attention, and the time I spend talking about them will be equivalent to a part-time job. In essence the love one feels for a child is strong, but the love one feels for their own child is overwhelming and incomparable. This provides a tiny glimpse to me of how vast Christ's love for us is as His children. I suppose that I cannot even fathom that, but it is something that I now cherish-- to know a small piece of God's love for His children by being privileged to feed, change, play with, and snuggle my three boys as a nanny.