My · Nanny · Diary

It's been awhile since my last post, not a whole lot has happened, and it's not like anyone reads this but me so I really didn't worry about it! A few noteworthy things:
1. I went to visit my family in Ohio, which was fun. My little sister Jaclyn was in her last marching band performance, she is going to graduate this year. I was glad it was an away game, I don't like going to home games and running into all those people who ask "so what are you up to now?" becuase I always feel like my life is kind of lame and it embarrases me to tell people that I'm working as a nanny, that I never went to college, etc. I used to be able to tell people I was an EMT which made me sound somewhat important, but I don't even have that anymore. On the way back I stayed with my other sister Kristen, which was kind of cool because she lives in an older house (1930's?) which I like. She made me watch Lord of the Rings, which I always protested doing, 'cause I'm not much into all that famtasy stuff. It wasn't all that bad, but it was WAY too long. I was tired to begin with, and there were times I had to force myself to stay awake. At the end I was screaming at the TV for the guy to die faster so I could go to bed. Not my finest moment.
2. My boss went to Mexico wither her husband for a birthday vacation. I ended up working 10+ hour days, plus 2 overnights. My check for this pay period should be over $1,000, when normally it's between $300-$400. I do have one concern though- I spoke with the prevoius nanny who was there doing some of the other overnights, and she said she was only getting paid half her hourly rate for the hours the kids were asleep. She said that that had been worked out before she took the job. Now, my check that I calculated is for my full hourly wage, but I am afraid that when my boss is writing the check she is going to say "that can't be right, didn't you change the rate for half the amount when the kids were alseep?" I am soooo afraid this is going to happen. If it does, I am going to have to stand up to her a say "I would have been happy to negotiate this with you had you brought it up prior to this, but you didn't and I'm afraid I ear-marked this money to pay off past-due bills." I HATE confrontation, and my boss has the ability take take every situation and manipulate it to benifit her and make you feel like you are at fault. It's like when her mother called this week to ask what time he flight came in, and I said I wasn't sure, I didn't see it written down anywhere and I couldn't recall her telling me. It really didn't matter to me, when you have been at work for 24+ hours straight what does a few more hours matter? Any way, when my boss called to check in later that night I asked her, and her response was "Oh, I know I told you, but you probably forgot becuase I was giving you so much information at once!" She said it in a way that she wants it to seem like she feels she at is fault for throwing a lot at me at once, but really implies that I am forgetfull. Grrrr. I do like her, but it's lots of little stuff like that bugs me. Like not telling me until I am leaving work on one day to tell me if she has decided or not she is going to "use me" (he term) the next morning or not. There have been times where she will call me at 8 at night or later to let me know if I am supposed to be there the next morning or not. She did say during my interview that she needed someone who was felxible, which I am since I don't have another job or any other scheduled activites, but geez! 12 hours notice doesn't seem very courtious. I feel like I can't make plans becuase she might decide to use me. There are also times where she will let me go early, or not use me at all becuase a kid is sick, but then doesn't pay be for that time. The other nanny I spoke to said I need to demand a base pay where I get paid for X hours for Y days a week, wheither she decided to use me or not. She also said I realy should quit, becuase it is only going ot get worse, and I am having the same issues as her and the nanny before her. I would, and probably use the (very valid) exucse that I need to job that provides more hours and a higher hourly rate since Mike had his surgury, becuase now the bills for that are rolling in. She stated when I was hired that she was looking for someone who wasn't going to leave in a few months like the others did (and now I know why), so if I did quit I would feel like a horrible person, but seriously, I have now enter that point where I no longer feel like this job fits me and feeling like that can only lead to resentment and lower job performance. From what I was told, a job like mine where I am basically "on call" and at the whim of my employers schedule could earn me $100,000 a year! There are sports players and corporate people in this area who pay their nannies that becuase they can get called away at a seconds notice and pay to componsate that. Seriously, find me one of those jobs and I would be gone in a heartbeat! This work week was LONG, but it was OK in some parts. One of the kids lost his tooth so I had to pretend to be the tooth fairy. That was fun. And I got to use their hottub with Mike after the kids when to bed one night. (this was with my bosses permission, in fact, she suggested it.)
3. I recently read "Why I Wore Lipstick to My Masectomy" and watched the TV movie based on this book. This got me thinking about finding a red lipstick that I can pull off in everyday life, so I started a Google search. This led me to a website called www.thefedoralounge.com, which is a bunch of people who are into the "Golden Age" of the 1930's-40's, and a little bit before and after. Now I'm getting into the idea of dressing more vintage-inspired, since I never feel like I really pull off modern trends. Oh, and I did find a lipstick, Loreal's Red Rhapsody. I feel sexy and classy at the same time in it, and don't look like a clown. ;)