alex has thrush.
sophie has pinworms.
I have a porokeratoma in my left foot to be be removed this afternoon.
christ.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
email to the nanny...
March has been busy and fulfilling- our first trip to Disneyland with my brother's family, fun playdates and general goodwill. Geoff bought himself a dirtbike for his 40th birthday. Lots to say but lacking energy and focus to spell it all out currently. In lieu of a real entry, I am pasting in an email I wrote to nanny Rachel last night when I was up from 3-6 am. This is becoming a habit this block of hours awake in the early morning. the email:
Good morning Rachel- thanks for your help this week. I am so relieved to see that Alex is doing better with the separation issues. I know that has been such a bummer for all of us the last 3 or 4 months and I am glad that for the most part he seems to have come around. I just wanted to mention a couple of things. I don't have a problem with you bringing your laptop to work, but I would like to request that you limit its use to your break time only, ie, when the kids are sleeping/quiet time. I know how the computer can have its pull for checking email, sites, etc. and I think it would be easier to just have it turned off and not in use during the time you spend with the kids. I have always appreciated your lack of personal phone use during your time at the house and I would like for you to have the same boundary with the laptop. I hope you understand. Also, on Tuesday and Thursday, before it gets too hot again, I would definitely like you to take Alex out for a walk in the morning. I realize that you get plenty of exercise before you come to work, but he is still at such a great age for a 20-30 minute stroll to get fresh air, listen to the neighborhood sounds and watch the world outside. Of course I know that when Sophie is here you are only able to cruise him around inside the house, but that is hardly the same as all of the benefits of a real walk outdoors. In that, it would be great if you can plan to regularly take him out both days that Sophie is in preschool for the next couple of months until she is out of school and our scheduled days change. As far as Sophie right now, I am sorry for the difficult behavior we are encountering - resisting instructions, etc. She is going to spend Sunday night with my mom this weekend- maybe that one on one time will ground her a little bit. I know that Sophie is physically pretty rough and it is important to establish what is okay and what is not, but when you can, please try to have physical contact with her because I think she is needing it. I know when you read together you sit close and cuddle a bit and I think that is great. maybe it is also as simple as sitting next to her during puzzles instead of across from her to give her a little squeeze now and then throughout the day to affirm your affection for her. As I said, I know it can be tricky with her being too physically aggressive, but if you could try I would appreciate it. I hope you are feeling better after recovering from your strep throat- I am sure that was pretty painful and took a lot of energy to get over. I was saying to Ruth tonight that you have been with us for 14 months now! I hope that you are still enjoying coming to work and playing with sophie and alex. I know it can take a lot of energy sometimes, but I hope that for the most part this is a job you look forward to, playing and doing things with the kids. Sometimes I sense that maybe you are getting a little bored with being here/the same thing week after week? I don't know. I think we should work together to try and mix it up a bit so that there is a little more variety for the three of you. As we talked about this week I appreciate the downtime and routine they have with you, but I also think trying out some new things would be helpful. I have a couple of toddler activity and preschool art books that I would like for you to take a look at on Tuesday when Sophie is at school to see if you can find some things that might be a good fit. I could try and dictate some different ideas, but I think instead it might be helpful if you took a look to see what interests you and what you think might be good for both the kids and yourself to do together. Moving forward I just want the time you are with the kids to be the best it can be- rewarding, enriching and relaxing too. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I look forward to any feedback or concerns you may have. I think the best way to have a good relationship between us is to keep the communication open and to keep an open mind about making adjustments along the way so that we can make the best of this partnership. Have a great weekend and we will see you Tuesday-Julie
and her reply:
Yeah we can talk Tuesday because there are a few things I wanted to talk about too. See you then. Rachel
I am not quite sure how much longer this working relationship will last. She is stealing homemade cookies and naan bread from my freezer. As if I wouldn't notice. I believe to an anorexic this is called hoarding.
Harumph.
Good morning Rachel- thanks for your help this week. I am so relieved to see that Alex is doing better with the separation issues. I know that has been such a bummer for all of us the last 3 or 4 months and I am glad that for the most part he seems to have come around. I just wanted to mention a couple of things. I don't have a problem with you bringing your laptop to work, but I would like to request that you limit its use to your break time only, ie, when the kids are sleeping/quiet time. I know how the computer can have its pull for checking email, sites, etc. and I think it would be easier to just have it turned off and not in use during the time you spend with the kids. I have always appreciated your lack of personal phone use during your time at the house and I would like for you to have the same boundary with the laptop. I hope you understand. Also, on Tuesday and Thursday, before it gets too hot again, I would definitely like you to take Alex out for a walk in the morning. I realize that you get plenty of exercise before you come to work, but he is still at such a great age for a 20-30 minute stroll to get fresh air, listen to the neighborhood sounds and watch the world outside. Of course I know that when Sophie is here you are only able to cruise him around inside the house, but that is hardly the same as all of the benefits of a real walk outdoors. In that, it would be great if you can plan to regularly take him out both days that Sophie is in preschool for the next couple of months until she is out of school and our scheduled days change. As far as Sophie right now, I am sorry for the difficult behavior we are encountering - resisting instructions, etc. She is going to spend Sunday night with my mom this weekend- maybe that one on one time will ground her a little bit. I know that Sophie is physically pretty rough and it is important to establish what is okay and what is not, but when you can, please try to have physical contact with her because I think she is needing it. I know when you read together you sit close and cuddle a bit and I think that is great. maybe it is also as simple as sitting next to her during puzzles instead of across from her to give her a little squeeze now and then throughout the day to affirm your affection for her. As I said, I know it can be tricky with her being too physically aggressive, but if you could try I would appreciate it. I hope you are feeling better after recovering from your strep throat- I am sure that was pretty painful and took a lot of energy to get over. I was saying to Ruth tonight that you have been with us for 14 months now! I hope that you are still enjoying coming to work and playing with sophie and alex. I know it can take a lot of energy sometimes, but I hope that for the most part this is a job you look forward to, playing and doing things with the kids. Sometimes I sense that maybe you are getting a little bored with being here/the same thing week after week? I don't know. I think we should work together to try and mix it up a bit so that there is a little more variety for the three of you. As we talked about this week I appreciate the downtime and routine they have with you, but I also think trying out some new things would be helpful. I have a couple of toddler activity and preschool art books that I would like for you to take a look at on Tuesday when Sophie is at school to see if you can find some things that might be a good fit. I could try and dictate some different ideas, but I think instead it might be helpful if you took a look to see what interests you and what you think might be good for both the kids and yourself to do together. Moving forward I just want the time you are with the kids to be the best it can be- rewarding, enriching and relaxing too. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I look forward to any feedback or concerns you may have. I think the best way to have a good relationship between us is to keep the communication open and to keep an open mind about making adjustments along the way so that we can make the best of this partnership. Have a great weekend and we will see you Tuesday-Julie
and her reply:
Yeah we can talk Tuesday because there are a few things I wanted to talk about too. See you then. Rachel
I am not quite sure how much longer this working relationship will last. She is stealing homemade cookies and naan bread from my freezer. As if I wouldn't notice. I believe to an anorexic this is called hoarding.
Harumph.
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