Sunday, August 5, 2012

I was wrong...apparently I DO look like Mary Poppins

It's been a long week. That's putting it mildly, but if I state it truthfully you'll be afraid to read this. On top of the scorching heat and drought that currently has Tuscany in a death grip I have been watching a three year old. All day. Not just a few hours here and there but breakfast till the folks are done with work. I don't remember three year olds being this much work. Then again, I don't really remember a whole lot of my children's toddler years. I worked all the time and that doesn't leave a lot of the day to form those priceless memories that everyone else seem to have. What I remember most is always being tired and wishing I could spend more time with them as I tried my damnedest to get them into bed (semi-clean) at a reasonable hour.

But that was then and this is now. Now is where my 50 year old body tries to keep up with a three year old. I can't really say "Not now, I'm tired," because they're paying me to be there for her. So we walk to the park and play on the slide and the swings. We go to the pool and I spend hours jumping up and down with her and letting her chase me back and forth across the pool. We crawl around on her floor playing with dolls and stuffed animals and doing puzzles.

I come home at night completely exhausted in part because I'm riding home at the hottest part of the day. Then it's too hot to sleep, so I also wake up exhausted. Not a good way to start the day. I did this for four days last week and I'll do it for three days this week before we leave for Sweden. I'm so ready for vacation.

And that's not all that happened this week. I got offered a job nannying. (Side note: spell check says nannying isn't a word and would I like to replace it with annoying or angina? Who knew spell check had a sense of humor?) I wasn't looking for permanent work but it seems to have found me through the network I've been building over the last year here. It's a little crazy really, because I've only watched their kids one morning  yet they really, really want me to work for them.

I'm going to take it for several reasons. It would only be for thirteen days a month, leaving me over half the month to do what ever I want. Or nothing, it's up to me. It's a contract job, which means nothing to an American but everything to an Italian. Most jobs don't offer employment contracts that protect the employee and gives benefits. So somehow I've accidentally stumbled on the holy grail of jobs here. Yay me. Also, I never have to cook. They have someone who does that for them. Yup, it's a pretty sweet deal.

I did hesitate a bit. All this stuff is new to me. I was looking at it as committing to 13 days every month. Leif said "Yeah, but you don't have to do anything the other 18 days. You'll get to see how the other half lives. It's an adventure." Tough to argue with that. Sometimes he's pretty smart.

Now comes the inevitable stack of Italian paperwork. If I can best the Questura, I can handle this office too. It's exciting in an "Oh my God what have I done" kind of way.

3 comments:

  1. I love reading your blogs. Thank you.

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  2. Sounds like a sweet deal and way better than doing Day Care here in Minnesota to be able to stay home with your kids. "Cake walk" comes to mind and besides you can look at it as an exercise program. That's how I stayed in shape after children. "Go,Go,Go" or in Carly's case it was "Broom,Broom".

    You will love it and learn many more things that you ever expected. Kids are awesome and honest.

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