Smile yourself happy

I've finally bitten the bullet and plunked down a lot of cash to book a house for a 'vacation' with the triplets. I picked a lovely 5 bedroom house on the Russian River, which is only about an hour and a half from here. It's also only 30 min north of the grandparent's house in Petaluma, so I'm not stretching too much. All hell breaks loose and we can come scurrying home with our tail between our legs. Being only 30 from the in-laws also means if we forget things we are easily in reach of it or a walmart at any time. And if they fall and crack their fool heads, we are 15-30 from the nearest big town with a hospital.

Now where the nearest mental ward is I am not sure.

Triplets preparing their lounge chair act

In any case, I am trying to put a positive attitude on for this, since it scares me silly to be 10 days without a nanny to help out. I am contemplating ways to have help come but other than conscripting friends, I'm not sure. But I'm certain I have to be the positive one or it will go to heck for sure. If momma ain't happy....you know? So I'm going to try an experiment. This might shock some of you who know me well, but I'm going to try not to think of everything that could go wrong and I'm going to put a smile on and arrive like we're going to have the best time ever.

Think it'll work, this brain transplant idea? Because I never think of my worst case scenario thinking as a truly bad thing. Just know I'm always prepared for the worst and if the best happens, how great. Is it really worse to think the worst and then truly enjoy when you're wrong or than to think the best will happen and sometimes be disappointed? I don't know. In high school I was voted most pessimistic. So I believed I was. But in recent years I figured out it's not actually true. I am quite the optimist in most situations. What people misunderstand about me is that my sarcasm and dry sense of humor picks out the terrible things, the possible nightmares, the dark stuff, and uses that as fodder. So my jokes are negative, dark or possibly pessimistic. I'm not.

There are a few people in my life who have just not gotten this. They are not my friends ever if for long. If you think I'm just a complainer and griper, why would you want to be my friend? But is it their lack of sense of humor that is the problem or am I sometimes too much to take? Hard to say. Sure it annoys me when someone tells me I'm too negative or to lighten up. But I usually am just shocked. I'm sitting there at a wedding saying I hope the bride doesn't notice that the waiters just screwed up and someone thinks I'm being negative. Um, I'm empathizing with the bride? Or possibly I'm having a little fun making fun of the waiter? Or possibly I'm just making conversation? Or, heck, maybe I'm being a little snarky, but that's not a crime.

But I digress. I am a positive person or I would not be surviving triplets. I am a positive person or my mom would have me in the psych ward right along side her sometimes. I am a positive person because despite my misgivings, in three weeks I am packing up my entire house into a minivan and heading north for a week. Wish me luck.

Hey crabby pants...

Dear unknown nanny,

I've now spent two hours with you at my triplets' music and movement class, and admittedly I was busy chasing one of three around the room and participating in the class, but I've made some observations that I'd like to share. First of all, I'm not sure who hired you, but I'm pretty certain that the parents of that delightful little girl hired you for many good reasons. My guess is that they anticipated that you would actively participate in their daughter's life bringing her joy as well as discipline in good measure. None of us parents expects nannies to be 'on' all the time but when we pay you to care for our children we expect a few things:

1. An attitude that indicates you kind of sort of like our child or children at least a little bit.

2. A willingness to participate in the activities that help our child grow or just entertain them.

3. A smile at our child on an occasional basis.

4. An ability to at least pretend enthusiasm when the class requires it so that our child feels inspired to participate in the class on which we have spent our hard earned money.

5. Not to see the following behaviors: frowning at our child while smiling at everyone elses', sitting still when it's participation time, not singing the introductory song, or ripping of drumsticks or cymbals out of our child's hands disapprovingly when it's FREE. INSTRUMENT. TIME.,

Now, I don't know about you, but I'm inclined to tell on you. If I could find the parents of your charge and let them know that somehow they hired a surly, unhappy, non-participating, misses the entire point of music and movement class nanny, I think they'd be glad I told them. However, in a city of millions, my chances of reaching them are miniscule. However, if I have to dance through one more class while watching your black cloud stifle the joy of your charge I may find a way. I and my nanny can NOT be the only ones encouraging your charge to sing and dance freely as is the POINT OF THE CLASS. Unless you are taking her home to a glass house wherein she is not allowed to be a child, then I think she's allowed to make some noise and have fun in this class. Capiche? Liven up and chill out for goodness' sake or I might smack some happy into you personally.

Yours,

Mira