What I've learned as the Nanny

I know our parents said it about us, but kids are just different these days! We used to mop the floor, now the kids want to know if I'm going to "swiffer." Do they know what a mop is? There's all day kindergarten and caring what your hair looks like when you're 5. I never wondered if my friends were going to like the clothes my parents bought me (at least not until junior high) and we didn't do our shopping together on the internet. We had frogger and pack-man and now kids all around the planet play World of Warcraft together. We didn't have cell phones - crap, we had a party line and a rotary dial!

But even with all the differences, there are some things that remain the same. Little Evan told me matter-of-factly today that I'm his family and he asked who my family was. I told his he was my family, too. We took advantage of an 80 degree day and blew up the pool and made "rain" with the hose and tramped around in the soaking wet grass after we poured out the water. Each day walking home from kindergarten Lilly takes one hand and Evan takes the other and we look both ways before crossing the street.

It's a pretty incredible mission to help shape these young lives. To be responsible for their safety, their learning, their manners -- all the character building that will lead them into adulthood. It's daunting and thrilling and I'm looking forward to what's ahead for these intelligent, beautiful children.

Instructions for Life

From the Dali Lama...

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three R’s:
Respect for self
Respect for others and
Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

I love you, too, Maryjo!

This came to me today from my dear friend Maryjo. I may not officially be "old" but I'm definitely "older" and can so relate to this. Enjoy! lco

Age, I decided, is a gift. I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend.

I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60's & 70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love .. I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)

MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART! MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE A RAINBOW OF SMILES ON YOUR FACE AND IN YOUR HEART FOREVER AND EVER!

POE

View my page on Photographers of Etsy

Are my parents reading?

Okay. So if you know me, you know I'm the rebel child. Always have been [ask my mom, I was born in the hospital hallway] and always will be [why change now?]. So, in honor of Handsome's special place in my life and my heart he now has a spot on my ankle where I can always see him and think back fondly of all the great times we shared.

PS: it's really hard to take a picture of your own ankle!

I finally rode the Pig!

At least I remembered to cover my crotch :o)

Thank you for being a friend

On the beach in Westport

I forgot to mention that I brought a hitchhiker home from RC with me. My dear friend, I'll call her Coco, lent me her 13 yo daughter for a week. M3 rode home from SD with me (I know, poor girl!!) and we spent 7 days exploring Aberdeen, the local beaches, hitting the fair, shopping in Olympia, meeting my friends and family here and just having a darn good time! She is such a wonderful young lady that I almost didn't let her leave! And then Coco came on Thursday and we had a jam-packed 4 days before they both went home to SD together. There were only a few tears during our visit but lots and lots of laughter. As always, my friends help me immensely with my continued healing. I want to share a few fun pics from our week together...

Is there a Sunset Dance? Ocean Shores

Eating the delicious Piroshki Piroshki. Seattle