Guest Post: Aunt Nanny

Since I've been so busy lately, I asked my nanny (aka, my sister Mary) if she'd like to write a post about how the kids are doing.

Here's life from her perspective these days:

It always amazes me that Nancy can create these succinct portraits of her life with Nate and Mela. I appreciate the art of taking so much chaos and organizing it into neat, attractive little packages that make their household seem so warm, fun and approachable. Warm it is, but my summary of a morning with the kids would be a little more along these lines…

Aunt Nanny’s mental narrative:

(At the door) Gird yer loins and into the fray! (Door opens)

Baby Nate being changed, that means I don't have to worry about that for 20 minutes ... Mela is crying (why is she crying?), gonna be a tough morning ... Dinning room table means they probably just finished breakfast ... oh god I stepped in oatmeal ... thank goodness for that handy vacuum thing (what on earth is it called?) ... oh, Mela did something cute and helpful (REINFORCE! ) ...Nate has finished being changed ... Is he going to be ok crawling or is he crabby? ... Hey he’s walking a little more confidently than yesterday ... I wonder - NO MELA DON’T EAT THE OATMEAL OFF THE FLOOR - oh the phone is ringing ... Gotta get her out of the oatmeal but should answer the phone ... GUILT should be holding Nate and cooing at him ... Why isn’t anyone answering that phone and why is this oatmeal so hard to get off? Wait that’s not oatmeal…

It continues pretty much in the same vein for about five more hours or until The Mom or Dad poke their head around a corner to take over.

I’m starting to believe that this is the norm when parenting two young children but more worrisome than that is my suspicion that as a parent, all of your years as mother/father will be like this.

I know that to be a parent is to have your life consumed by your children, and who would not want to sacrifice themselves for an individual as spectacular as beautiful, loving, brilliant Amelia Jane or kind, funny, selfless Nate (or both!).

But where do you people find the strength to go-go-go for twenty years without pause, sometimes while juggling a career or staggering personal challenges?

It has been a couple of wild weeks of colds, upset sleep schedules, and the fun of pulling the clothes out of one’s (*ahem Mela's) dresser day after day at nap time while we adjust to this new routine with each other.

I can only assume that with a better routine and more experience things would go more smoothly and in the meantime, bask in the funny and treasured memories I’m creating with two such terrific adults-to-be.

(ed note: if you were to see her in action, Mary's actually doing a great job with the kids and seems very much in control. But yes, oatmeal is the bane of our existence.)

Here are some of Mary's pictures:

Making muffins:

Grown-up girl:Play time:Messy but happy: