Tales of a _____ Au Pair: Post #3 - Typical

            So it has been a hot minute since I wrote one of these, and that is not due to laziness. Well, not entirely. Mainly, I have not written a lot because life is good here, but typical. In other words, I have not really been doing anything that interesting that I consider people would want to hear. Let me run down a typical week for me to give you a picture of what I am talking about.

            Weekdays I wake up at 6:15, which good God no. Look, I have not been up this early on a consistent basis since high school. The morning hours and I did not like each other then, and we still do not now. I then wake up Leonie and Levin and get breakfast together. Leonie handles her business, best thirteen year-old girl ever, but Levin has to be ushered along with a pretty steady hand. He and I share the same opinion about waking up this early. Therefore, I have to make sure he eats, brushes his teeth and gets dressed. They both leave at 7:15 for school, which is when I wake up Lukas. With Lukas, it is like rinse and repeat, except I have to be more hands-on since he is five. I also use the rest of the morning to make the boys bed and pick up there room. I then walk him to Kindergarten by 8:30, regardless of sun, rain, or the six months of snow I was told to expect to start in two months.

            Of course, since this is southern Germany, we walk up all sorts of hills to get to Kindergarten. Ladies and gentlemen, the hills are not alive with the sound of music, they are alive with the sound of my screaming thighs. I have had the luxury of living in very few hilly places in my life, and I am sorely paying for it now. This is especially true, because we walk and bike everywhere. Normally, the car remains in the driveway, mocking me.

            After dropping Lukas off, I am free until 12ish, which is when I have to go pick Lukas up. Some days he stays until 4:00, but not typically. Leonie and Levin start arriving home between 1:00 and 2:00, with Claudia coming home sometime after depending on her schedule. During all of this, I am Paula Deening my ass for everyone. Let it be known that in three short weeks, I have developed into quite a cook. I am one with the German food at the moment. Also, the kids all like my “American” food as well. Mexican food is pretty much nonexistent here, so my extremely watered-down version of that cuisine is going over very well as well. Thank you Taco Bell and Filly-B’s for giving me simplistic recipes I can easily replicate.

            I then pal around the boys for an hour or two, making sure nobody kills themselves. Sometimes we go to the park or swimming pool, or just stay in the house and play games. They also really love to read, which is fantastic, and will just sit for hours. They do not watch television, and they are only allowed two films a week and maybe play video games that much as well. I would not have made it as a child.

            A couple times a week I am responsible for sweeping parts of the house and cleaning the bathroom I share with the kids. I was supposed to vacuum at first, but did too good of a job at that. Those of you laughing at the concept of me doing too good of a job at cleaning, shut up. Apparently there are degrees of vacuuming, and I did it on the level of the cleaning lady that comes on Wednesday. After blankly staring at Claudia as she tried to explain this concept to me, we agreed it would be better if I swept instead.

None of the stuff they ask to me do is bad or hard at all, except one damn thing that is. Once a week, I have to iron all the washed clothes that belong to the kids and me. Why, you might ask, if there is a dryer sitting right next to the washing machine? The answer would be that pretty much nobody uses their dryers, in order to save on electricity. So every Tuesday or so my room turns into a laundry mat for a couple hours. Just like the car, the dryer also mocks me.

Nights are pretty much to myself, and I help out with the kids here and there. Wednesday nights I go to class, starting in two weeks, and Friday nights I play volleyball. Saturday is kind of random day, with no real schedule. Sundays are mine, and recently have been reserved for absolutely NOTHING.

That is pretty much it for a standard week here. And no I do not have pictures yet. They will come, within four to six weeks.

Tschüss!