Day in the Life of a Nanny!

People lately, have been asking what I do as a nanny, so I thought I'd give you a little break down on a day in the life of ME! I'm going to let you in on all the chaos....and fun!

7am: I like to run in the morning, so this is the latest I can go about doing that! Some days it happens! Other days, depending on the weather, or how I feel, I do a small workout in my bedroom instead.

7:45am: I am dressed, taking one last deep breath, enjoying the calm and peaceful atmosphere of my bedroom, before I enter the storm!

7:45 - 8:30am: A frenzy of washing last night's dishes, getting the boys to eat breakfast, feeding the dogs (myself), getting the boys dressed, and off to school!

Then from 8:30am-3:30pm this little guy and myself get to hang out!

 This little guy has a very low attention span, and is really good at getting into trouble, so finding activities to do was very challenging! Now though, I've got a little list of things that involve learning and playing that keep him occupied for awhile!

To start our morning together, I usually play an ABC song on my phone for him to watch, while I clean and tidy their bedroom.

I then try to get him playing with some of his toys for about 1/2hour. I play with him, or he loses interest. I try to show him how to build things with play mobile, Lego, and blocks. He is much more interested in destroying the finished product though!

Then we go into art! I have to mix up the activities! One painting will be with the paintbrush, the next his fingers, then a part of cut up fruit to stamp onto the page. Sometimes I let him paint my hand, although he tends to aim a little higher at my face!

Then we do baking! Which he loves, and I love! So it is actually lots of fun! One on one is much better, because I can take his focus away from chucking the batter! I tried to do this activity with all three once, and it was a nightmare! 

After all that, it is usually warm enough outside to take Dulce for a walk! The two are perfect to walk together, because they go at relatively the same pace!

By this time it is usually lunch! He is a fussy eater, so this goes on for about an hour!

Then it is outside time! We might play games in the backyard, or go for a hike down the nearby trail. We might build forts, or explore the creek a little bit! He is very well behaved outside, so this time usually gives me a little breathier. (Until he starts climbing up the scaffolding!)

 3:30pm. The boys come home from school! The kids run wild shouting, and doing things they shouldn't! Several time outs happen, then after about an hour, they settle down!

4:00-5pm.

Then it is supervised play in the backyard!

Or I will take the eldest two for a hike, and do some Geo caching with them! Geo caching is a new thing I have started doing! It's basically a world wide treasure hunt! Toronto is full of these treasures, so I thought I would try it out! The boys really enjoy it too!

5pm: Dinner; when everyone has lost their cool (including myself) and the fussy eaters just don't want to eat! 

Then after that, I am relieved of duties! I usually go to the gym, and take a yoga class to get rid of any negative energy I have built up! Then I come home, work on my novel, catch up on social media, and sleep! (And eat way too many evening snacks, because that is what stress does to you!)

Sometimes the mother takes the youngest on an outing during the day, then I do some rapid house cleaning, and take Tank for a walk!

 Overall, I am starting to enjoy this job more and more each day! I thought I had it all together when I started this job! I mean I'm the eldest of eight, I have worked at summer camps, and been a summer nanny for other families when I was younger. I guess because of that, I had underestimated how much of a challenge this job was going to be. I am learning so much through this experience though! It is basically parenting boot camp! I feel like after this, I will have a lot more knowledge and experience necessary to be an AWESOME parent, or an even better nanny for another family!

For now through, this experience is preparing me for my next possible adventure! I am learning how to interact with children who don't understand my language, and how to teach them English, which is good, because I got asked to help out at a mission in.......

Africa! Uganda, January 2018!!

I'll let you know more details in a later post! 

Anyhow, I hope you all start to experience some warm weather like we are! Can't wait for summer!