Scrapbooking Savings Week!
Free Gift + Take an Extra 9% OFF with code: CRAFT
×

Cheers

Be the first to cheer this project!

Give a Cheer
Give cheer Give a Cheer
Favorite

A Day in the Life of the Nanny: Taking Care of Torrin, Talisen, and Traesin

7:00 rise and shine! Shower, so I have a fresh palette to soon be covered again in marker, baby drool and spit up, food, and whatever other glop the children decide to smear on me today! Dress in comfy clothes appropriate for crawling around on the floor and digging in the dirt.

7:30 Time to wake up Kadence…if she isn’t up tormenting me already! Get her dressed and fix her hair. Pack the diaper bag with at least 2 extra outfits because she and Talisen seem to find dirt EVERYWHERE! Make sure to bring Kadence’s ninny (blanket) or naptime will be a disaster.

7:45 Into the kitchen for breakfast and to find something to take for lunch. If we are running short on time, which happens more often than not, grab a can of vegetables or a box of pasta for lunch and plan to go through a drive-in for some breakfast.

8:00 Frantically search for my wallet, keys, and phone. Kadence thinks they are the greatest toys and likes to stash them in places mommy would never guess to look! Hopefully they are not locked in the car!

8:20 Get in the car and head to work! Go through the drive-in for breakfast and COFFEE

9:00 Arrive at work! One day Talisen is VERY excited to us and other days he is VERY upset that mom and dad are leaving him. Most days Torrin is at preschool but on holidays and other days off, some bribery is usually needed to convince him that he should stay with me and not go to work with mom and dad.

9:10 Usually Talisen has not had breakfast, he likes to wait and eat with us, so we have toast, cereal, or muffins. Talisen usually wants popcorn, which he calls “corn”. He would eat that every meal, every day if we let him!

9:30 Time for Traesin’s nap and the other kids usually watch TV while I rock him to sleep. Kadence prefers to watch Hi-5 so they dance and sing. The goofy songs usually serve as Trae’s lullaby and he is soon asleep.

10:00 Play-time! So many toys, it’s so hard to choose what to play with! On brave days, I turn them loose in the toy room and let them play with whatever they choose, but this usually results in toys EVERYWHERE so usually I get out a couple of boxes and let them pick. Some of their favorites are blocks, the Thomas the Train set, super-heroes, and skateboard dudes.

11:00 Outside to play! The kids love ride and play bumper cars. They usually fight over who gets the fire truck and who gets the construction car. They also enjoy sitting at the picnic table and banging on it. Some days we go up to the top of the hill and play on the slide…Kadence loves the “wee”. Their favorite thing to do is to slide in the dirt down the hill but they get SO DIRTY! I guess a little dirt never hurt when they are having fun.
11:45 Traesin will be waking up sometime in the next hour so its time to get some lunch started for the older kids, because he will want a bottle when he wakes up. Kadence and Talisen either watch Sesame Street or play outside (the back patio is fenced in and I can see them play through the kitchen window) while I make lunch. The Witt’s are vegetarian and a typical lunch is usually something like grilled cheese, pizza, pasta, macaroni and cheese, or peanut butter sandwiches with fruit and vegetables.

12:00 Feed the kids lunch and try to pick up a few things around the house and try to wind the kids down.

12:30 Naptime for the big kids!!! My favorite time of the day!!! Hopefully Traesin is still asleep because it is hard to get the kids wound down and into bed when I am trying to feed him a bottle…usually he is. We read a book and maybe sing a song and then its bedtime! Talisen thinks he needs as many blankets as I will allow, no matter how hot it is! And Kadence needs her “ninny”. They are in separate rooms but I still often hear giggles between the walls until they finally rest.

1:00 If Traesin is not awake yet, it is time to wake him up or he will not sleep well for his mom and dad that night. As soon as he wakes up, he wants his bottle…room temperature, not cold, and definitely not hot! I get a chance to sit down and relax and maybe watch some DVR soap operas. When Torrin is home from school everything is changed because he does not usually want to take a nap. I usually make him lie down for about thirty minutes and watch cartoons so it is quiet and the other two kids can get to sleep. Although he always swears he is not tired and that big boys do not take naps, often he falls asleep.

1:30 After Traesin eats, I usually try to pick up things from lunch and any toys left out. Some days Trae has other ideas though and thinks he should be held or played with. Sometimes I can get him to sit in his bouncy chair in the kitchen watching the ceiling fan while I get things picked up. Once again if Torrin is home from school and does not take a nap, I have him help me pick up toys and then we do something special together. He really enjoys doing crafts, especially cutting and gluing, or baking something.

2:00 Before the kids wake up, I try to give Traesin a little one on one time. He loves to lie on the floor and play peak-a-boo or have me blow raspberries on his tummy and feet. He will laugh and laugh! I just love that sound!

2:30 Around this time Kadence and Talisen usually wake up. Kadie is usually up before Tal and the trick is to catch her before she goes into his room and wakes him up, because when he is woken up before he is ready, he is GRUMPY! When Kadie gets up she likes to snuggle for a little bit and then will either rest on the couch watching cartoons for awhile or play with Traesin. She loves “Be-Be Tree”

3:00 Traesin is usually ready for another nap and often will fall asleep in his swing or just sitting on my lap watching cartoons with Kadence. If I have not heard anything from Talisen yet, I usually go check on him because most days it means he is awake and getting into trouble in his room. His favorite game is to take all the diapers out of the dresser and throw them around the room.

3:15 Snack time!!! On extra warm days I strip the kids down to their diapers and give them popsicles. Other days we enjoy fruit or crackers.

3:30 We usually play outside. Sometimes, especially if they have had popsicles for snack and need to wash off, I let them play in the kiddie pool. They love to dump water on each other and splash around. Other times we play on the porch in the front yard and the kids like to throw rocks in the little pond out front. If the weather does not permit us to go outside we either spend some time coloring or playing with toys inside.

4:15 Traesin usually wakes up from his nap about this time. Often times he thinks he is hungry and I do my best to hold him off so that Kristine can nurse him when she gets home…usually it works. I try to get things picked up around the house. No one wants to come home from work to find their house looking like a tornado went through. I almost always get the kitchen completely cleaned up, but sometimes the toy room is a loss cause. I am trying to teach Kadence and Talisen about picking up your toys but sometimes if Traesin is fussing, it is hard to get them to cooperate while keeping the baby soothed.

5:00 Kristine and Gregg will be home soon so I try to do something organized that will not get the kids too wound up or drag out too many toys. We play outside on the riding toys, play on the porch where we can watch for them to come home, watch a cartoon, or sit in the living room and sing songs.

5:30 Kristine and Gregg are usually home by now. I fill them in on the daily happenings…when Traesin ate and his general schedule, how Talisen behaved and anything extra cute that he did. This is Kadence’s favorite part of the day because Gregg comes home and chases everyone around singing goofy songs…so much for not getting the kids wound up. They love it! I usually have to drag Kadence away to go home. I think she would live at Kristine and Gregg’s if I let her!

6:00 Most days I am at home and making supper for my family. I try to have quick things on hand or make up casseroles beforehand because by the time I get home from work, I really do not feel like cooking.

6:45 After cooking and eating, I try to get some things picked up around my house. I have to admit, I am not really good at always making sure this happens. After chasing kids all day and picking up after them, the last thing I want to do is pick up after my own family! Sometimes, often would probably be more accurate, I just want to sit on the couch and do nothing or aimlessly play on the internet. Terry is usually pretty good about playing with Kadence at this time and keeping her out of my hair so I can have a much needed personal break.

7:30 It’s family TV time. Kadence loves to watch “Family Guy” or “Simpsons” with Daddy. Yes, I know this is not exactly quality children’s programming and I try to tell Terry that one day she is actually going to understand what they are talking about and then we will have to explain to her why she cannot watch it anymore, but at this point, I usually just let it slide. I like being able to sit back and relax and I love watching them spend time together. It is funny when Terry laughs and Kadence, even though she has no idea what he is laughing at, mimics him.

8:00 Bath time is usually done by Daddy but sometimes if he is extra tired or has something he needs to do, I take over. She loves to play in the bubbles and sing silly soap songs. We work on learning to count and knowing the parts of her body.

8:30 Kadence’s bedtime…we read a book and sing our special “Goodnight Kadie” song. (Good night Kadie, Good night Kadie, Good night Kadie, it’s time to go to sleep. To the tune of “Good Night Ladies”) Most nights she is pretty easy to put to bed but occasionally she is up and down for what seems like forever! I just want her to go to bed so I can have some peace and quiet…maybe even some alone time with daddy.

9:00 Once Kadence is asleep I either spend some time with Terry watching television or he plays poker and I scrapbook. I have to record all the cute things Kadence and the boys do as they play, learn, and grow!

10:30 Around this time I usually head to bed. A long day chasing kids wears me out! Another day is done and although I am REALLY tired I would not change it for the world! I love my job!


In July 2006 I moved from Nebraska to San Diego to be closer to Terry, who was then my fiancé and was stationed at Navy Band Southwest in Coronado, CA right outside San Diego. Although I had my music education degree, I really had no desire to teach, so I began looking for work in child care as that was what I had been doing my senior year in college and really enjoyed it. Most of the centers I looked at were not hiring or did not pay very well. One day while online I came across a website www.gonannies.com and was intrigued. It was a nationwide bulletin board where family looking for nannies and nannies looking for families could find each other. I decided to try it out and found three different families I thought I might want to work for. I interviewed with the first one and definitely did not feel like I was a fit…they wanted me to put their 6 month old on a “curriculum”. Then, I interviewed with Kristine and Gregg. They owned their own business, Premise Immersive Marketing, and had one child, Torrin, who was 9 months at the time. Their present nanny was going back to school and they were looking for someone who was flexible! It seemed like a fit so I gave it a shot and boy am I glad I did as it turned out to be a perfect fit and 4 years later there are three boys now and I can honestly say it has been the best job I could have asked for! It was a complete joy to watch Torrin grow up! He was such a talker…speaking clearly at a year with a huge vocabulary and by 18 months there were sentences. He is a lot like his dad, goofy as can be and full of energy, but he is also the wimp of the family too! Any injury is a complete catastrophe with crocodile tears and hours of pain…so dramatic! In September 2005 I found out I was pregnant and a few weeks later Kristine found out she was as well. Our due dates were only days apart…hers being May 1 and mine April 28. It was really nice to have someone to go through pregnancy with, although I was VERY jealous that she did not have to deal with the nasty morning sickness that I did. On April 18 Talisen Michael was born…9 days later (the longest 9 days of my life!!!) Kadence Mae was born. The whole family came to visit Kadence and I at the hospital and we all got to meet the new additions to the family. A few weeks after the kids were born, on Mother’s Day, Kristine’s mom passed away. I had only met Wanda once but she definitely made a big impression, such a sweet lady! I felt so bad for Kris losing her mom, especially so close to the birth of little Tal. Kristine and I took maternity leave at the same time and I started back to work when Kadie was 7 weeks old. It was a little stressful at first caring for two newborns and a preschooler but luckily, they were all good kids and we quickly fell into a routine. In August, Torrin started preschool; it was so hard to believe that the little baby I started taking care of was already 3 and ready to start school. Except on holidays, which I do not usually work anyway, and days Torrin’s school is closed, it is just Talisen and Kadence. I love watching them discover the world together. They both learned to roll over about the same time. Talisen then started sitting up and he wanted Kadence to try it too. He would sit there grunting and cooing at her as she would try to balance until finally one day she finally mastered it! Later they mastered crawling and it was all downhill from there as they were now on the move. One would crawl in one direction and the other would watch until I went to get the first one and then crawl somewhere else, then while I went to get the second one the first one was off again. They thought it was a really funny game! Their cooing and babbling soon became a language only understood by them and they actually had delayed speech because they would use their language to communicate instead of English. Sometimes I also took care of Kristine and Gregg’s neighbors’ son, Mateus, who was born in July after Kadie and Tal. The kids had so much fun playing together…it was like the three musketeers. On Kadence and Talisen’s first birthday we had a party together and they were too cute sharing their cake with each other. They were both COVERED in cake and frosting from head to toe and had to be put in the tub to clean them off. Soon after their birthday, they started walking. I loved watching them walk and look over their shoulder to make sure the other one was coming. One of their first “real” words was “mon”, which meant come on. The following September Kristine and Gregg learned that #3 was on the way and a few weeks later I also discovered I was pregnant. Neither of us were trying so it was a shock; we had done it together once and would be doing it together again. Sadly though, a few weeks later I miscarried. It was hard to see what would have been unfold before my eyes, especially seeing ultrasound pictures and seeing the kids interact with Kristine’s tummy. On March 6, Traesin Dustin Witt was born sharing his birthday with his daddy and Gregg’s biological father. Trae had jaundice and was not allowed to come home for a few days so I did not get to meet him until Monday, but from the moment I saw him, I loved that little guy. I looked at him and saw a piece of what might have been and as he grew I felt like he was my saving grace so I did not have to feel sad about what I was missing out on. Traesin ended up needing warming blankets to completely get rid of the jaundice. Then at 10 weeks, he developed an infection and had to have a spinal tap and be in the hospital. It turned out to be a mild infection but in a baby so young and small any kind of sickness is serious. Luckily, he healed quickly and a few days later was back to his normal smiling self. Traesin was only 4 months old when we moved to Chicago in July 2008 but in that short time we formed a bond just as strong as the ones I had with Torrin and Talisen. The three boys felt like my children and I loved them so much, and always will! Saying goodbye after four years together was one of the hardest things I have had to do, but I am sure we will remain in touch for years to come. I look forward to seeing what kind of men they grow into knowing I played a roll in their development those first years of their life. The thing I found most amazing about my job with the boys is how alike but yet so different siblings can be! Each person, regardless of how much DNA they share, has their own personality and it is definitely evident in those boys!!! I feel so blessed to have spent four years with the boys and hope that I made as much of an impression on their life as they have made on mine. They may not be blood but they will forever be family.






Report
SavedRemovedChanged