When we started DD1 in preschool, she was still a baby – just 2. At the first town hall meeting we went too, the head of the school asked the parents to only believe half of what the kids tell us about them and they will only believe half of what the kids tell them about us. The notion of this amused me but well…..I had only a 2 year old – so it didn’t really apply to me.
Fast forward to living with a critter who is a few months into the 3s, and guess what…oh, it applies now.
Case in point.
The other day, our nanny came over to take DD1 out for a bit to give moi a much needed break and let her burn off steam. I swear, why didn’t anyone warn us that with 3 year olds, you need to run them like German Shepard puppies, which can be very challenging in the dead of winter?
That night, after putting DD1 to bed, DH came downstairs deeply concerned. When asked about her outing, DD1 informed DH that she played in the park with Jose while our nanny sat in the car.
Hmm.
This story didn’t really add up in my mind. We discussed it briefly and then frankly, I forgot about it.
The next night at dinner, the subject came up and again, DD1 innocently tells us about how she played at the park with Jose while the nanny sat in the car.
This time I focused and started to worry. The story remained the same a full day later. Might there be truth to it? Was nanny getting lazy? Jose is her daughter’s BF and while he is perfectly nice, he is a kid and well, I’m not paying him to watch my kid. And why was nanny in the car? It wasn’t that cold out. WTF.
DH tells me that this bothers him deeply. I begin to fret over how to raise it with nanny without accusing her based on the words of a 3-year-old. But naturally I began to wonder how often this happens? What else are we going to learn as she tells us more? My mind started going to places where no parent’s mind should go…..
Oh lord – how can I go back to work when our child is being tossed to teens in parks?
Fortunately with a baby in the house, no worries keep me up at night, a world war couldn’t keep me from sleeping, so I was as rested as possible the next morning while I casually raised it with nanny.
Time to harken back to only believing 50% of what they tell you……
Turns out they randomly ran into Jose at the mall (he was applying for a job)…and he walked with them to the play area in the mall…where nanny stood next to the little cars that the toddlers ride around in for amusement while mommy shops…..
HILARIOUS
Crisis averted.
And well….she did play with Jose at the “park” while nanny was next to the car (not in but is there a difference when 3?)……so she got it all right in her mind, that’s how it played out.
It was a great lesson for us in taking everything with a grain of salt.
And for your amusement, it seems that if I want to have an affair, I better do it while DD1 is at school…because the other day a guy was here fixing a window. Shortly after, DH came home from work and went upstairs to see DD1 as she was playing. Apparently the first thing she told him was “Daddy, there was a man here.”
HA!
I guess I better stop bad mouthing people in front of her too….
Just came by from Pundit Dad’s site….very funny stuff! And very true. My daughter ratted me out once when my wife and I were quitting smoking together for sneaking one behind the car. She told my wife that she “could see daddy’s breath”. Unfortunately my wife is crafty enough to decipher that one and I wound up in the doghouse. I’ll be reading often!
Very interesting… so little DD1 is no longer the trust worthy spy I trained her to be… good to know.