08 November 2010

Put a Fork in Me

I'm done!

Does that expression mean that I'm tired? Because that's what I'm implying. Having Z here is wonderful so far, just wonderful, but also exhausting. Today was our first day of the regular routine, although an irregular version thereof because I was home. But it was a school day for the kids and our first chance to show the newest inhabitant of our home what a typical morning breakfast looks like, where to drop Maddie and Riley off for school, what happens at the playground post-preschool. During the time the kids were at preschool, Z and I tried to get her a Social Security card (no-go; for some reason we need to contact the Department of Homeland Security. Huh.) and successfully got her a cell phone. By the time we took care of those two errands and then swung by the grocery store, the 2.75 little hours the kids spend in school were over. Poof! That goes by fast, for sure.

We had a nice dinner together this evening, then the kids and I went over to watch Monday Night Football with the neighbors for a bit. Now the kids are in bed and I'm not far behind, not far behind at all.

I've already missed a day or two of NaBloPoMo, but I'm still going to try to be more regular in my posting for this month. Posts like this feel kind of like throwaways to me, but the habit of more regular writing is good even on days when the content is subpar. I'm also somewhat motivated to keep a record of sorts of this au pair year.

For now, though, I'm motivated to go to bed. It's not even 9 p.m.! I've always loved going to bed early, especially if I'm reading a good book. My current read is Chronic City, which I'm enjoying but having a hard time getting through; it's one of those very character-driven books with little in the way of a story, at least thus far (150 pages in). This format does not seem to work very well in 15-minute bites, which I all I usually have the energy for once I crawl into bed to read each night. Perhaps a 9 p.m. bedtime will get me a little further along this evening.

/end navel gazing, at least for tonight/

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your au pair. I've had au pairs for over two years now, and they are the greatest, not to mention way more affordable than daycare in Boston.

Just in case you didn't know, she does not need a SSN to open a bank account. My typical practice is to go to the bank with the new au pair and her passport. The passport with the visa is proof that she's not a permanent resident of the US and therefore does not need a SSN to open a bank account.

You didn't say which agency you used, but if it was Au Pair in America, the phone cards that they give out do work with cell phones. The main problem being that infrastructure in other countries is not always so reliable. My current au pair had some difficulties, but it turned out to be the lines in China that were an issue. It tends to be a sporadic problem.

Oh, and one piece of assvice -- don't cheat on the program rules, especially the 45 hour limit. I know it seems like a win-win to get extra time for extra money, but while she might agree to it now while she is new here and has no friends, she might want her time off later but feel uncomfortable saying no after a couple of months to agreeing to extra hours for extra pay.

OTRgirl said...

Glad it's going well so far. I still enjoy your throwaway posts, so I'm glad you're going to try to keep it up.

Blake Mcguire said...

Great read thank you