I am tentative to write about my nannying experience - I am still so in the midst of it, and the stories I could tell seem best suited to in-person conversations, rather than on-paper tales. There are all the times I have to discipline, for example, and the more frequent times when I am made to laugh at some comment or deed done by cute and budding humanity, which do not transfer well to hard and toneless paper. The stories told me from the bathtub are not best related via video, and all the delight of a 20-minute drive to the beach cannot be captured in a photo, however, so I find I must resort to the keyboard for at least a portion of the reporting process.
I sit beside the bathtub, having quickly done a bathroom-cleaning, and ready to listen to whatever story is being energetically pretended in the water. Is it the Mommy, Daddy, and Baby Teradactyls, or the cars falling repeatedly off the cliff with matching brum-peeeeooooo noises? Too, the most interesting life observations and stories from the past come during bathtime. And when I say, "Now it's time to wash your hair and come out," the protest, "But I wanted a BIG bath!" makes me laugh.
This frightening creature is the "Terror-of-all", and was a multi-day teamwork project, requiring an Overseer, several Lookers for pieces, and a couple of Builders, all with grand ideas of how the finished product should look. It was a marvelous way to keep idle hands busy while I'm not there to supervise. It was proudly shown off to me the next morning, and all the subsequent mornings when some change to bodily function had been devised and effected.
The moment when written English clicks in a kid's brain is marvelous to witness - and since one is still young enough to be humble I am teaching him reading-aloud skills with the now-unnecessary lesson time.
The scores, the steals, the wins, the finds, the deals, the bargains, the growing collections - they also must be shown off and told about - "Guess what I found at the thrift store this weekend?" "You'll never guess what I bought," "Guess what?", and "COME HERE!" are all common greetings on a Monday morning.
The typewriter was a fun saga. I was so excited to use it that the kids actually dictated the first few pages of a novel (about Archer-man!) the first day. Then it developed a technical issue and got shuffled aside. The issue was resolved but I haven't seen it since.
Piggies by Don + Audrey Wood is a great book. The kids noticed details about the illustrations that I never would have seen in a lifetime of trips through it. Also, does anyone have a tip on the best way to have a kid on one's lap while reading storybooks? Their head always seems to get in the way, which is fine while you're just looking at the pictures, but can get nose-bumpy if you try to read the words.
I suppose it's my fault they write letters. It started as a school project, but Aunties somehow always write back with more questions, so I'll still see a reply lying on the counter occasionally, or an envelope ready to receive contents, and sometimes take dictation for one or two of the younger ones when I have the energy (or don't have the energy for anything else).
The kitchen sink window is one of the most important spaces in a house. You spend a lot of time looking out of it, especially if you do not have a dishwasher. I had a few precious, tiny plants on its sill in the winter, but they froze one time, to be replaced now by one vase, ready for whatever small treasure one or other of the kids might find in the yard and bring in to me. In spring it was a marvelous place to watch the kids fixing and riding their bikes on the lawn outside, and now their tricks on the trampoline, long, lazy swings on the tire, or fire-tending vigils.
The garden is growing well. It was a bit of an adjustment for me to garden in the extremely sandy soil, after our gummy clay, but I am really enjoying it now, with a plot for vegetables and a raised bed for perennials. Planting perennials means a lot - it means you hope to be around to care for them year after year, and it means you trust in the Lord and His ability to grow things without help. I am always amazed when I leave a garden and know it will have grown by the time I come back, no labour involved. We are all looking forward with growing excitement to picking and eating the peas - they're flowering already. The tomatoes, peppers and carrots will ripen after I'm gone to camp or Bible School. You're welcome to come and pick them in my absence!
It is such a blessing to live within afternoon-outing distance of a beach. I have already lost count of the number of times we've gone this summer. If it is a hot day and the kids get the house clean before lunch (I always leave the decision to them: Work - Reward, or Don't - None), we throw some towels and a diaper in the van and head for the water. Also, I have a beef with "the people in charge" of the weather, as it is always shivery cold when we arrive at the beach, no matter how hot the morning was. "Can you come out into the deep end with us again?" is mostly a welcome question.
To her little brother: "Mom taught me to pump, when she was still alive, so now I can teach you to pump."
My days are filled with these little things.