A Mommy Story

I’d like to thank those of you who added your thoughts to my last post. It was a lonely, hormone-fueled weekend, and it felt comforting to know I wasn’t alone in wanting to escape from my “domestic bliss” now and then.

I took a vacation day from work today. While a day off is very needed, relaxing wasn’t on the agenda. My new babysitter started today, and I stayed home to go through the routine with her. She’s a friend of ours who was looking for extra work and money for when she and her boyfriend move to Boston this summer. In the past, she has watched the children of other friends, so I feel very comfortable leaving Cordy with her.

M is one of those people that kids naturally like. She’s full of child-like energy that kids are magnetically attracted to. She’s young and hasn’t been worn down by having a child around her 24/7, begging for juice and cookies, waking at 6am, and testing every rule every minute. In other words, she’s a perfect companion for a hyperactive toddler two days a week.

And while Cordy is normally shy and cool towards anyone she doesn’t know well, she happily played with M and had no issue with me leaving for an hour to go to a chiropractic appointment. When I returned, they were in the kitchen eating lunch, M having just taught Cordy the “peanut butter jelly” song. Cordy liked her enough to even spare her the afternoon poopy diaper on her first day.

I think she learned the routine pretty well today. I didn’t realize how strict a mommy I am until I listened to myself spouting off all the rules. Some are for Cordy’s protection – no food with cinnamon, since she’s allergic – but others were less critical, such as no going upstairs unless it’s naptime, no shoes on the couch, and crayons must be put away when done, or no TV for the rest of the day. But I’m still soft on some things: sandwiches must be cut into triangles, because it’s Cordy’s favorite shape, she’s allowed to play with daddy’s poker chips if she keeps them at the table, and snacks can be eaten in the living room while watching TV. It was tough to remember all of the rules, and I’m sure M will forget some of them, which is OK, because they’ll form their own way of doing things.

So we have a good babysitting arrangement for the moment. However, M will be moving away in June or July, so we still must continue to look for daycare for Cordy, but the search isn’t so urgent now. Tomorrow I’ll go back to work, and M will have her first day on her own with Cordy. I hope it will go as smoothly as it did today, and Cordy won’t prove to be birth control for yet another young friend of ours.