August 22, 2003 - 4:19 p.m.

Friday Five

I haven't done one of these in a long time, so even though this one isn't that inspiring, here goes...

1. When was the last time you laughed?

Hmm, it wasn't a belly laugh, so I am not entirely sure, but I think it was over some silliness on Surprise by Design, which I watched while I ate lunch today. That Robert Verdi is highly amusing!

2. Who was the last person you had an argument with?

Again, I cannot say with 100% certainty, as I do not keep careful track of these things. It pretty much has to be H, though. She has such a high opinion of herself, at age nearly nine, that she seems to refuse to believe that my ideas might, occasionally, be better than her own. Heaven help the world when this child becomes a teenager! By that time, I hope to be a few states away and thus far enough away to find her teen angst amusing rather than infuriating. :)

3. Who was the last person you emailed?

Though I almost never email anyone interesting, this afternoon I emailed the director of a child life specialist program at Johns Hopkins. I am hoping she can give me more details on the program and give me a hint as to whether or not I would be likely to be accepted into the program should I apply.

4. When was the last time you bathed?

Ugh, actually yesterday. I didn't shower this morning, since I intended to go to the gym. I have managed to fritter away my day, however, so a workout at this point looks unlikely. I guess it's a good thing there's no one here to smell me other than the cat and the hedgehog! Actually, a bath sounds lovely, but I don't have a bathtub in my bathroom, so that is right out. Then again, the family is going away tomorrow, so perhaps tomorrow night I can indulge in a bubble bath in the huge master bathroom jacuzzi tub! Shhhh! Don't tell!

5. What was the last thing you ate?

Exactly four green spice drops and two reduced fat, sour cream and onion Pringles from my car. They were the remnants of the munchies from the road trip to NH last weekend, and I ate them on the way home from the bank.

Completely off topic, I am so glad that I do not work for a stay at home mom or dad! This morning, my employers asked me to keep the rugrats occupies while the adults met with an architect here at the house. It is so hard to keep a child from pestering his/her parent when he knows perfectly well that the parent is home and otherwise occupied. It's amazing; a child how would be happy to play on her own for hours normally will be drawn, like Carrot Top to a bad commercial script, to the parent so long as mom or dad's attention is directed at someone other than her. Since, in this case, the parental units were paying an hourly rate in the hundreds of dollars for the meeting with the aforementioned architect, I had to almost bodily restrain B from attempting to usurp the attention of both parents and visitor. That made me Evil Nanny and public enemy number two (just behind the kids at school how call him "Cowboy" ever since he once insisted on wearing a ten-gallon style hat to school).

I can only imagine how much harder it must be to have to fight that battle day in, day out with a parent around all the time! Thank heavens, I only have to deal with such situations once in a blue moon. I can't really blame the kid. Much as my charges love me, being passed off to me must be considered a slight to a four year old who cannot comprehend the need to actually sit down and have an entire conversation that stays on topic without resorting to a singe fart joke. Worse yet, not only was he deprived of his parents attention, he was deprived of a new and unwary audience for his charms in the person of the architect. Poor B. Luckily, some time, a few tickles, and the introduction of playdough into the day allowed him to forgive me.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that all the rancor in such situations is directed at the nanny rather than the parent. Lord knows it was my idea to spend my morning trying to entertain a reluctant and irrascible preschooler and to cruelly separate him from his beloved parents!

today's project: mentally noting to never work for a stay at home parent

musing about: the white peach sorbet I intend to make tomorrow.

�

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