Adventures In Babysitting…#1

The twins...in 2005

 By the second week of school in 2005, I was already relatively sure that I wasn’t going to be able to continue to remain in the classroom with the teacher that I’d been assigned to.  I continued to try to hang on until Christmas, but it just got to be too much to handle.  Stress was consuming my life.  As the door was beginning to close on my career as a first grade paraprofessional, a new door was beginning to open up for me.  I found out, through my daughter, that Michelle,  a good friend of hers,  would soon be looking for a nanny for her five month old twin girls.  The twins had a nanny at the time, but their mother was looking for a new nanny to begin work in January.  I inquired about the position.

After talking with both parents, they agreed to hire me.  I was going to start in January, and I would be going to their house to keep the girls.  Beleive it or not, excluding the insurance benefits, the pay was pretty close to what I had been making working at school.  In the meantime, I gave my two weeks notice at school at the end of September.  I decided I’d just enjoy doing nothing until January.  Well, that thought quickly disappeared when the other nanny left earlier than expected…and thus began my “adventures in babysitting” which began immediately after leaving school, and lasted just short of two years.

It had been about twenty years since I’d handled any babies, but it’s like falling off a bicycle–you never forget!However, I quickly discovered how to do things in a different way than I had previously done them!  I learned how to feed two hungry babies at once!  I learned how to rock two babies at once!  I learned how to get two babies to sleep at the same time!   While twins might seem overwhelming to some…after dealing with 20 first graders for nearly 16 years, five month old twins seemed rather tame.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed keeping those little babies!  These babies were already special to me before I ever became their nanny.  I’d watched Michelle go through years of wanting a child, and not being able to get pregnant.  Then, finally, after saving up enough money,  she went through the invitro fertilization process and became pregnant with twins.  They were little miracles–and I got to share their days with them.  I became like a third grandma.

Jayla

Fortunately, the babies had opposite personalities.  Mackenzie, the larger of the two, was a colicky, demanding child.  She cried a lot, and demanded immediate attention–always!  Jayla, the smaller, darker  haired twin, was a pleasant,  easy-going, child–always willing to wait her turn–and it was a good thing!  As the twins grew older, and larger, I could no longer manage them both at the same time, and somebody had to wait.  I was so happy that Jayla never complained about going last. 

Mackenzie

As they grew bigger, Mackenzie was notorious for getting into trouble, but Jayla would happily follow her!  Oh the things those two could find to get into!   I couldn’t   trust Mackenzie to stay quiet and out of trouble while I put Jayla in the stroller or carseat, so Mackenzie always got buckled in first.  Fortunately, Jayla never seemed to mind waiting her turn.  She would stand and wait patiently until I got Mackenzie buckled up. 

You will see a picture of Jayla in this post–immediately after she’s finished eating.  Both twins looked exactly like this–after each and every meal!  Can you tell that she had carrots for lunch?  The other picture is of Mackenzie sitting in the sink–taken one morning while she sat watching her mother get ready for work.  Placing Mackenzie in the sink was how her mama kept her occupied while she was trying to fix her own hair and makeup!  By the time I got to their house each morning, Michelle had already put in a day’s work with the twins–before ever leaving for her job!   

I have lots more tales to tell–as you can imagine with twins. Some days were more adventurous than others, but something was always going on with those two!   I’ll share more tales on another day.  Until next time…thanks for stopping by!