Nanny Milestones.

I arrived here in LonGisland exactly one week ago today.

Today I celebrated by doing five loads of laundry in my laundry room (including my sheets Steph!) and washing the frog tank.

I hate frog tanks. And T didn't even ask me to do it. But it smelled so bad and she never gets around to it, so I had to. The frogs seem much happier now. There's two, and I don't know if they're named or what those names might be but I'm calling them both WB, since I can't tell them apart anyway. I don't understand tank pets. The kids don't even care about them.

After my day off yesterday, I got up on schedule this morning, even though the kids still have no school, and made breakfast. I napped on the daybed in the playroom while the family did whatever it is they do upstairs in the mornings. I have a feeling T would like me to come up and help get the kids ready but I feel like my days are long enough. Unless she outright asks me, I'm not going up there before 9 o'clock.

The kitchen looked like one of our brand new Pennsylvania tornadoes had come up here just to make my life harder. Clearly, on my days off, T has no intention of doing anything. She ran the dishwasher, probably because if we don't run it regularly the ants get in there and tongue wash the dishes. But every other dish she or anyone else had used yesterday was waiting for me.

And when I did go upstairs after breakfast to get laundry, the kids' rooms were both whirlwinds of mess. Someone had taken all the clothes out of one cabinet and ripped open a new package of diapers, spilling them all over the floor.

Rich people are so spoiled.

But, we've fallen into a nice routine. I know how to run a house and T has given me the freedom to do so. If she's not going to be as strict with her kids as I'd like her to be, it's ok, because she is a hands on mom, and I'm not alone with anyone but the baby most of the time. When I do have the older two, we're getting along.

It can only get better from here. Right?

So here's a summary of my current status as a snobby Long Island nanny:

The dog still won't pee where he's supposed to when I let him out. He pees on the porch or the sidewalk for me and over in the corner of the yard like a good dog for everyone else.

The baby calls me Mama. It's like de-ja-vu...

I still don't know where the cutting boards go so they've been on the drying rack for three days.

I hate my shower. It's one of those glass stalls and there's no elbow room. Every time I open the door water gets all over the bathroom and the temperature faucets are so sensitive that I bumped one with a bath sponge and scalded myself the other night.

I don't know why people have fancy china. No one ever uses it. It just sits there taking up space and gathering dust.

And,

R has now threatened my life three times, two with resulting time outs. More to come, I'm sure.

On the whole, I am doing well. I know I have a lot to learn here and I know my time here has purpose. I think I am prepared to live here and enjoy it for the next couple of years, as planned, and I definitely wasn't sure about that a week ago.

Now I better run. The baby is eating my computer charger.