What was I thinking?

In 4 days the parents I work for are leaving for Italy. They will be gone for 17 days. Sounds like that would be a great deal, right? Except not. They are taking S with them, the five-year-old. They are leaving Baby S, 1 year in 1 1/2 weeks, with me. That is right, 17 days, just me and a baby. Okay, my parents will be here along with the baby's grandmother (the one I like it) for 6 days of it, but that leaves 11 days all alone with a baby. Talk about feeling like a single mother, I believe it will be a rude awakening. Although, if the baby was actually my own, I probably wouldn't mind it. But as of now, I am think I was nuts when I agreed to this. I had a bad day with Baby S today. She was driving me crazy. Her temper has appeared and she spends the whole day fussing, screaming, hitting and kicking if she doesn't get her way. And her way is to get everything that she isn't suppose to have, of course. Even in the playroom, where there are only toys, she still manages to find the very few things she can't have. Then I have to take it away and she screams and cries. Oh, and then there is the seperation anxiety. That is fun. She now cries when you put her in the crib, and it is a really hard cry. For a long, long time. It kills me, but I let her cry because I have 17 days with her and I am not going to run in there in the middle of the night every time she whimpers like her parents do. Tuesday she cried for 50 minutes, yesterday for 30, and today for only 15. At least the numbers are getting smaller, but I will have to start over after the weekend since she will be in the parents care. What did I get myself into? They better pay me really well for this, I mean big bucks. Because, as always, I will deserve it. And next time I get myself into a situation like this, someone slap me. On the bright side, when they return, I will only have 1 1/2 months left with them. Hallelujah for that!

Comments

Girl of Approval said…
Hide the baby in a closet if she gets to be too much. Oh wait... I've heard you aren't supposed to do that.

Um, maybe leave her outside in a fenced in area like you do a puppy.

:)

Good luck!!!
9/15/2006 12:02 AM
cdoc said…
They dropped a bombshell on me this morning: they are considering leaving S too. She doesn't want to go and she will miss a lot of school. But she is the flower girl in the wedding, so they are still unsure. I don't think I can do it. I really don't. I am not sure I would have agreed to it back then if both the kids were staying. I can barely handle S now, when it is all me and no one else for 24 hours a day for 17 days, I honestly, not joking here, might hit her. I was so close a few weeks ago and then again last week. She is a spoiled brat. And since starting first grade, the attitude hasn't gotten worse. What do I do? They leave in 3 days. They talked to her teacher yesterday, that is why this happened. The teacher thinks it is too long for her to be gone, I told them that when they were planning the trip but they said "It's just first grade". She already has homework each week, first grade has changed. I don't know what to do. If I say no, they have no time to find someone else, if I say yes, I will go crazy!!!
9/15/2006 5:58 AM
Anonymous said…
Tell them it's just too much. Ask if either of them would like to be alone with both girls for two weeks.
9/15/2006 7:40 AM
Anonymous said…
You HAVE to stand up for yourself here. You just have to. Did they even ask you or just TELL you what the deal is? THey should have talked to the teacher long before now so they can just deal with the consequences. This is crazy.
9/15/2006 9:32 AM
Girl of Approval said…
Oh hell no.

Tell them to eat it.

I just read an article about how America is assigning more and more homework while Japan is getting rid of it. There have been studies that for elementary students homework has no effect on their learning and can actually be detrimental. So, tell them to take her to Italy and that it'll be a leraning experience more than school can ever offer.

And that you'll go nuts if they don't. :P
9/15/2006 12:19 PM
cdoc said…
I told them my concerns about her staying and me getting frustrated, but they have decided it will be better for her to stay. I also told them that if they would have asked me to watch both the girls when they were first planning the trip, I would have said no. So now I am stuck with 2 kids completely by myself for 11 days (my parents and their grandmother will be here the rest of the time). I will be renting A LOT of movies and letting them babysit S!
9/15/2006 2:25 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder"

I was always a bit skeptic of this phrase. How can being away from a person make you fonder? With time, you will slowly start to forget the sound of their laughter and the scent of their hair. You will forget the way they dance and the way they like their toast. Sure, when you see them again, when they laugh or dance, all those things come rushing back. Being away may make you yearn for them, but you no longer know them as well as you used to. At least that is what I used to think. I should have know this phrase was true since whenever I would see my sisters again, it was like no time had passed. I don't know what it was that made me realize all that I took for granted, maybe it is being away from home for so long or my travel mishaps or my friend's car accident or maybe just that I am getting older, something made me see how I took everything for granted in my life before I came here. It was so easy, I could go up the stairs or across the hall or get in my car and spend a day
Read more

Target

I called my Mom to tell her that the parents are back and that I am responsibility-free in the evenings and weekends again. She didn't answer, but returned my phone call soon after. I told her my news, and she shared with me that she was about to head into the new Target. We are a family of Target-lovers, what's not to love? As she walked in, she said "it's huge." I tried talking to her, but could tell that she was distracted. She started to ask me something, "Did you... you should see the card section, it is like the one in Grand Forks." I, again, tried to change the subject back to what I was talking about. I finally let her go because she needed to finish shopping in there before returning home to watch Lost, throwing in "it has a Starbucks" before we said our goodbyes. A few minutes later my phone rings. It is my Mom again, she called to say "You should see all the food they have. They have a lot of organic food, organic oatmeal and or
Read more

What do I do?

All week I have made some attempt to tell the parents I am leaving. It started on Tuesday, all night I tried to tell them, but everytime I was about to bring it up, one of the parents would leave the room or the baby got hurt, etc. Wednesday, I made plans to go to the neighbors when the parents got home, but I made an attempt to tell them anyway, but S was glued to my side. I kept trying to distract her with food and television, but no go. I could have just said "I need to talk to you parents, go away", but I know her well enough to know that would have only peaked her interest and she would never go away. Last night, I was SO ready to tell them. The father asked me to watch the girls for 15 minutes while he weed-whacked the yard. I said sure, thinking the mother should be home any minute and then I could tell her when he is outside (I decided that if I can't tell them both at the same time, I will tell the mother alone). I waited and waited and waited. Not only was it 8
Read more