Everyone,
My friend Lolli is good enough to loan me her 12 year old KitKat for a few hours on Tuesdays. Between sickness, grandparent visiting, and other happenings, today was the first day we actually got together. Her school is literally a 5 minute walk from my house. She walks here after school, and Lolli picks her up around 4:30-ish.
I was so excited to have her come today! It was one of those days. You know, the kind of day I didn't get out of my sweat pants and didn't put on any make-up. I did exercise this morning and shower so at least I was clean. But that's basically all I did beyond the whole kid thing. I had planned for pizza for dinner but forgot to start the crust this morning and I knew we wouldn't eat until 7pm by the time I got to it.
Enter KitKat. Yay! Someone to play with Butterfly. Boy was she excited! I made the pizza crust (for tomorrow's dinner) while Butterfly and KitKat had a funeral for a toy (don't know where she got this but she built a little fence, had a processional, and buried the toy under a burp cloth in the fence...that was the burial place). Pirate doesn't go anywhere and I held Professor for part of making it because he slipped and fell while crawling and needed Mommy. (Can I just say that is the funniest thing when they slip and fall while crawling?! Especially Professor...he makes it into more than it is. And I have no idea why that makes it adorable.)
Anyway, once the pizza crust was rising, I left KitKat with all the kids downstairs and I folded and put away two loads of laundry. But then, I wasn't sure what to do. KitKat and I tried to have a few conversations but Butterfly informed her, "You are here to play with me. Play!" Miss Bossy. KitKat took it all in stride, though. She even went down our slide about 300 times with Butterfly. I can tell that Tuesdays are going to be Butterfly's favorite day.
I do wonder what to do with myself while KitKat is here though. I mean, she's here to help me. I suppose the best thing she can do is play with Butterfly. That girl has some serious play addiction. And it is nice to have her attention focused on someone else besides me. Any of you moms out there ever had a mother's helper and what did you do?
Safire
“Tell them to Have Faith in Me”
10 years ago
Take a bath or a long shower. Take a nap. Read you book in the other room. Play catch up on the computer. Oh--there's so much you can do! I hope having K come over continues to work out well!
ReplyDeleteno, but I want one.
ReplyDeleteI used mine to work but I also used her to get in some time for me. I felt guilty for a while but it was the only time I ever got to check email, blog, or read for fun. Good luck finding something to do!
ReplyDeleteI used to work as a mother's helper and I would just play with the kids mostly-- sometimes help clean (pick up toys, vaccuum) or help with dinner. Playing with the kids was about 90% of it though!
ReplyDeleteI have a 10 yr old who is wonderful! She plays with the toddler and even watches her sometimes so I can shower or fold laundry.
ReplyDeleteI had a college girl help me 3 days a week when the girls were 3-7 months old. She would take them on walks in the stroller - give them their bottles while I pumped - play with them - diapers - etc. I would shower, nap, clean, nap, eat, nap. :) Also I was able to do errands with her - I would just leave her in the car with the girls if it was an "in and out" thing or have her walk the girls around in the stroller if I needed longer time. Once the girls were napping on a schedule 3x a day I knew I really didn't need her anymore - we would just sit there and watch TV! I wish we could afford to have her again now - it ate up a bit of our savings but it was well worth it.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely enjoy having her!
I used to have a helper come in while i was working from home. Way back when I worked. Now I have a girl come occasionally to help. I spend time on my computer, read, watch tv, vacuum, dishes, laundry etc. Usually, I split the time between chores and relaxing, it keeps the guilt to a minimum that way.
ReplyDeleteI had a mothers helper two summers in a row. She came twice a week three hours each time. My boys were like 1 and 3. I used to have a special project planned that she could do with them that didn't require my help. A project that we didn't normally do so it was a treat and distracted them from the fact that I was not with them. The first little while I just hid in my room and enjoyed the peace. Maybe read, maybe slept, maybe wrote in my journal, maybe did nothing. We need time to think sometimes and not just when we are exhausted at the end of the day. I think I was teaching RS, or Sunbeams or something and I would read over a lesson sometimes. Then I got braver (my helper was older than KitKat) and I would go on short trips to the store. (That was in the OLDEN days before cell phones.) If I wasn't starved for alone time we would take the boys to the park together because we could each give full time attention to a child. I did forbid her from playing videos or tv when she was watching them. She had younger siblings so she had resources at home, as does KitKat and sometimes she would bring a few picture books from home that we did not have and that was a big thrill. The boys were so excited on the days she came that they did not notice I slipped out quietly. My boys were never clingy so I didn't have problems leaving the room. I did try to plan something to accomplish during that time, but it had to be out of their sight/area or I was distracting and she would lose authority/control of the situation. I would never do chores when she was there, I could do that when I was with the kids :)
ReplyDelete