Bad Day Moment

This post is brought to because two friends who got my brain going. 

1 - A new friend was inquiring on nanny life and asked me "what does a bad day for a nanny look like"? He sincerely was asking and I appreciated the thoughtful question; a question that took me a few seconds to answer. Honestly compared to what I used to do - I don't think bad days exist in my job anymore. Not that my old job was bad or hard, it is just my perspective on what I do now: playing with kids all day, go to work in PJ's, soaking up the sun, and getting anywhere from 1 -2 hour break most days leads to mostly good days.

His question had me thinking most of today why don't I have bad days? Well that is a lie I do have bad days, days where one or both boys wont go down for a nap, a day where either of them are cranky or whiny - this week both have had the nastiest diapers ever. Yet overall I look back and think man I don't have bad days - because in the end the hardest part of my day is dealing with the struggles of a 2 year old, not the demands of an adult boss, company, guest, or client.

2 - A fellow blogger and friend who knew I was looking for some new post ideas saw my Facebook status and commented that this would make a great blog post, so here it goes!

This afternoon I had a few things on my self-inflicted to do list: empty the dish-washer, finish cleaning the dishes from last night and this morning, help with dinner prep by chopping tomatoes, cucumber, making quinoa, do a much needed cleaning of my bathroom, and start a load of laundry. A pretty lofty list, I know but the last two have been on my list since Monday.

Bug is now in a stage of crawling and getting into everything so I had the wonderfully brilliant (or so I thought) idea of getting a sensory item going. Bear loved the cornstarch/water mixture and it kept him entertained for over a 1/2 hour so why not give it a shot with Bug. Thinking that Bug looked the same age as the kid in the link (above) my brain said it would be a great way to keep him busy while I at least got the dishes done.

So I took a glass baking dish, basically a whole box of cornstarch, and apparently way too much water and mixed it up to what I thought was the right consistency. I set the dish down in the corner, plopped Bug in front of it and watched to a minute to see his reactions.

After a few seconds of hesitation he quickly dove in, started splashing like he does in the bathtub and all too soon I realized my mistake. Within 2 minutes bug had splashed most of the mixture onto the walls, floor, and cabinets. 30 seconds later he picked up the dish and poured the rest all over himself. There was no point in crying over the spilled milk, he was having too much fun in it.

After hosing Bug down in the shower and setting him up in the high chair with a few books (should have just started with that) I pulled out a mop to begin clean up (you can start laughing at me now). Just as quickly I realized another bad decision, so I grabbed an old towel cleaned most of the goopiness away and then got the mop again, figuring I would have to go over it at least twice. The third time I was beginning to doubt the residue would come off and thought that if it wasn't for the crazy cornstarch this floor would be the cleanest it has ever been.

Finally the 4th time I got a few rags, a floor cleaner and washed the floor old fashion style - on hands and knees. This did the trick, again wondering why I didn't just start there in the first place. But at last the dishes were put away, the boys were down for their naps, and meal prep wash finished.

So there you have it, my Bad Day Moment.

ceconner ©5.21.2014