Parenting influences..

I always hoped I'd have children but when I was younger I backpacked around Europe and got some invaluable insight into what kind of parent I wanted to be - or rather what kind of parent I didn't want to be when I did a stint of being a Nanny.

Case and point; A mother sitting next to her 2 year old son at the dinner who started to do scary projectile vomiting across a 20ft dining table. I was sitting on the other side directly opposite with Miss 3.5 and Master 7 years. The mother turned, looked at her son, and then calmly asked me to 'see to him' (he was crying!) and kept eating her lunch. I did of course (who wouldn't?) and calmed him down, took him upstairs and took temp etc. Turned out he had chickenpox which when I reported the fact after arranging a doctor - whilst she went shopping (yes, I am NOT joking). The response?

'Oh yes, we had children over last week (the week I had off) that had chicken pox, that makes sense'.

The other two kids and myself ended up getting it (I was 22 and it was much harder on me!) and I was expected to work except one day I actually collapsed, I got the afternoon off.

No wonder the kids upon hurting themselves would stroll right past their mother (and father) and come to me for comfort. It was heartbreaking.

Now it taught me two things. 22 was way too young for me to be a mother. The looking after kids thing was a tough gig and I had plenty of other things in life I wanted to do. I resolved on that trip that kids were definitely not on my agenda until I was at least 30. Secondly it taught me that I wanted to be a present parent. And although I've had Nannies myself since - my presence as the 'mother' in my children's lives has been paramount.

And lastly I let people know if I've had a smidgeon of exposure to chicken pox or the like!!

Be a Fan

Print this post in friendly format