At 7:30 am I did not want to wake up. I was wide awake but feeling sad, weighted down by the doldrums of routine and the worries and stresses of a job that has a tendency to feel like waiting for Godot by myself. I live in this job, by the way––I'm a jeune fille au pair, or in other words, a nanny.
I had an argument with myself about wanting to stay in bed, to skip my French class and recover from not being able to fall asleep last night (so instead I ate a baguette while reading Harry Potter et le prince de sang mélé at 1:30am) but French class always cheers me up so in the end, I made it there almost an hour late. We talked about guillotines and burning people at the stake.
This afternoon I was listening to President Thomast S. Monson's October 2013 General Conference talk True Shepherds" while scrubbing the drains in the children's sinks when I realized one of my problems might be that I'm the slightly heartless sheep herder egging the kids on rather than a shepherd who really loves their sheep. I want to be a shepherd! Maybe it will be easier if I imagine them as sheep! I thought. But do I love sheep? No, I love llamas! Remember that time my roommates rented llamas and I immediately wanted to nurture and protect them? Llamas, yeah, that's it. When I struggle I'll think about how loveable llamas are.
I'll let you know how that works out.
Listen, if you have a nanny who sometimes secretly pretends you're a llama, don't take it as an insult. She or he is just trying to remember that you're a wonderful living being that she or he wants to care for tenderly and patiently. Sometimes she/he probably feels overwhelmed that the job is far from what she/he was expecting as far as pay/hours/and duties. And she/he probably never had a nanny her/himself so she/he finds it bizarre that nobody else expects you to hang up your own coat.
Luckily for you they are pretending you're a llama, it means they want to love you and not judge you.
Have any of you ever pretended children or people were animals? What do you like to eat at 1:30 in the morning?
1.) Thanks for writing.
ReplyDelete2.) Yes, I pretend that I am a llama moreso than anything else. Mainly because an "Emperor's New Groove" quote is probably going through my mind or something.
3.) http://llamafont.com/ <--you could put the children's name in this font and hang it up or make large nametags for the children to wear at all times or write secret messages to yourself or whatever.
4.) I like to eat cantaloupe + drink egyptian licorice tea.
My brother-in-law raises llamas. Let me know next time you're in Utah. I'll hook you up, cuz.
ReplyDeleteI like to eat sharp cheddar and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in the middle of the night.
I think I'm not a nanny cause I have a tendency to slap llamas when they don't hang up their coats.
ReplyDeleteI love left overs... all the time. Most recently pumpkin in all forms.