13th Times the Charm

In my first post I talked about how you need to get to know the kids, because through the kids you actually learn a lot about the parents. Sometimes you meet a kid and you think you’ve figured them out right off the bat. The two extremes that I see the most are the really shy and the motor-mouths. I’m currently a nanny to four adorable and wild kids. Liza, 6, Mickey, 7, Ally, 9, and Sammy, 11: girl, boy, girl, boy. 4 kids in 5 years. It’s pretty crazy, really. The first weekend was fun and just like one giant sleepover really. I was 18 when I started and I really did think it’d be just like a Disney Channel TV show, and it was. It was, that is, for the first weekend. The kids are little people, we have to remember. When you first meet someone, you want to show them your best you, but as time goes on your true colors begin to show. And boy, do these kids have some BRIGHT colors. Through the kids, I learned that I was the thirteenth nanny. Since the oldest is 11, they were roughly averaging one nanny a year. I’ve met two of their past nannies who have also lasted for years, they just work at different times and schedules. You can always tell whom their great nannies were by how much they talk about them, and their rankings. The kids have ranked all their nannies, I’m Sammy’s #1 but with the rest I’m #3, which I still consider a great ranking after 13 nannies. After a few weeks I realized the impact that all the nannies had made. Now, I’m only 8 years older than Sammy which he loves to remind me, but I find my age as a strength. I’m young enough to be an older sister, and that’s what I try to act like . I’ll continue to act like a sister because I love these kids so much, even though sometimes I mommy them. But because of my age, their dad can be skeptical at times about leaving four kids alone with a “child.” Age is but a number.