My usual routine is that I pick up K.A. (3yrs) at 2:30 and take her home where we then meet her brother J.D. (7yrs) at the bus stop. I take them home, I feed them, I play with them, I tell them "NO", and to say please and thank you. I'm sure by now you are wondering where this cute little story is going and I assure you that you are in for sharp turn into I'm-Never-Having-Kids land.
Yesterday, I arranged for J.D. to have a friend over before his football game at 5pm. Things were going too smoothly so when I backed out of the driveway from dropping the friend off and to take J.D. to his football game I heard a BIG BOOM and realized my smooth ride was over and that coincidently my ride had not so smoothly crashed into a tree. To add insult to injury I hear J.D. call out from the backseat "I hope you have a HUUUGE dent in the back of your car." Like, why? Why would you wish such a thing? I've given you a snack, I let you have a friend over, and I made sure I got you your favorite Gatorade and YOU hope that my car is damaged? This is the point where I am starting to doubt my belief in Karma, need those 2 advil, and wish that it was acceptable to drink while watching them but I digress...
As I am getting over the recent accident and praying that there isn't a "HUUUGE dent" in my car I am listening to K.A.'s and J.D.'s conversation. I must warn you, they never end well, someone always ends up crying and **SPOILER ALERT** it is usually K.A. who ends up being the victim. To be honest I am not really sure how this convo in the backseat even started but it did and it was about K.A.'s halloween decorations made at school not being allowed to be displayed at home because they were "ugly" and "no one wants to see them". As I was catching the last bit of the put downs streaming from J.D.'s mouth I hear K.A. start to wail from her car seat. I swear to God this boy loves hurting his sister's feelings. I'm convinced it is his main goal any and everyday of the week. As any concerned nanny would I told K.A. I'd use her decorations at my apartment and asked J.D. why on earth he would tell his sister that. His response..."Cause its true. They are ugly and she knows it." Perfect...
You might be shocked to know that this story has a surprise twist in its ending, a twist that turns me back around into kids-aren't-so bad land. After I had deposited J.D. at his football game I decided to let K.A. have a whirl on the playground before the game started. As I'm pushing her on the swing and silently thanking her in my head for the extra arm workout she is giving me we are having a nice little chat. Now, half of what she is saying I can't actually hear because she is five feet in the air away from me and well, I'm not going to tell any child to talk louder. But during our chat a woman happens to walk by with her dog in a stroller and that's when I hear the obvious question being asked by K.A., "Miss Whitney, why is that dog in a stroller?" As I paused to hold back any rude comments I heard K.A. answer her own question, "That doesn't make any sense. It's a dog. It should be walking. She is silly." Agreed. I mean I probably wouldn't have said it so nicely but right, she.is."silly".
So you see, just as I think I will never have any kids of my own they end up saying something that makes me want to keep them around. Sure there are the temper-tantrums and the whole not listening factor but all in all when I pick K.A. up from school and she runs into my arms its usually just what I need on a Tuesday or Thursday to get me through the week. That's just my typical Tuesday and Thursday and while I'm sure it is far from most people's typical, it is mine and I love it.
--love.whit--
