It takes a village...

Thanks Mom, for the great adage. It's been quite an experience being a nanny (I think I'll revert to au pair as nanny makes me think of a 90-year-old woman with gray hair pulled back in a bun). Day 3 has begun and, I have to say, is much better than Day 1. Monday, I thought I had made a big mistake. Truth be told, I keep going back and forth, but now I am sure this is going to be a good experience for me. I can already tell I am going to be one of those mothers who can't shut up about her children because last night I met one of the other au pairs from the agency (who lives right around the corner!) and I could not stop talking about the kids. They are just so adorable and funny (of course without trying) and I'm having a lot of fun with them. I can't believe some of the things that come out of my mouth sometimes. So far I've made up a dessert fairy who steals dessert from little children and comes in the guise of other toys and a breakfast fairy who is invisible and eats their leftover breakfast. The kids totally eat it up (no pun intended). The parents could not be nicer and they are so lax about how I handle the children. Basically I can discipline them as much or as little as I want. They are around quite a bit, so they help me when they won't go to sleep or have tantrums and stuff. It's great because it would be overwhelming otherwise.

So Sarah (the other au pair) and I went to the local pub last night just to meet and get out for a bit. She's really nice, from Liverpool so she has this cool accent. The pub was pretty empty basically because Northbridge is such a quiet, family-oriented suburb. It was just too funny. We walked in and felt like everyone was staring at us. It was mostly men in suits and hardly any women. We played some pool and then Angie, the girl from Nosh who I met Saturday and who also lives in NB, came and joined us. It was so great to get out of the house and have real, adult conversation, rather than talking about fairies and poopies (although I bet some adults would find some great conversation material there). Angie said she'd take us around NB Friday, not that there's much to see. I'm so grateful to have friends who live in the area and I know Emma and Paul (the parents) would love for me to have a social life and get out as much as I can when I'm not working.

I drove today! I found out that I don't need a special license or anything to drive here so that I can drive the kids to and from school when Emma can't. It really wasn't as hard as I expected. It just takes a bit more paying attention to which side of the road you're on.

So I'm in a good place right now. It's still a big adjustment to the fact that I'm living in someone else's house and I have to be quiet after 7:30pm. Also waking up at 7am is no picnic either, especially when I'm used to getting up much later in the day. I know, poor me. Basically, I feel like I'm living with my parents again, except they're not my parents and I have to take care of their kids. Which, to be honest, isn't so bad. We'll see how I am in a few weeks, right?