Who's next?
In August, most likely, we will get a new au pair. Either that, or the babies will go to school with Lucy... but most likely we'll get a new au pair. So now, the merry-go-round begins again -- we got our first applicant today...
And she is German! Aaah! As some of you know, I have complicated, complete nonsense feeling about Germans. I knew some in Ireland and found them to be... the kind of people who own a great deal of rain gear. Still, I am aware of a special sub-group of Germans -- I call them the "Fun Germans" and suggest that you find them in rented convertibles on I-95 in South Florida. (The others pack their own bicycles and hit Shark Valley instead.)
What does it mean when she says she's flexible? Or independent? Should I be charmed or concerned by her repeated use of the word 'tinkering'? (As in, the children and I 'tinker' with toys, drums, etc.) More significant, what about these two months of "special police training" on her resume???
Also, of note, she enclosed a "piercing letter," which explains that she has a navel piercing, which she thinks is very beautiful, but also understands may be a bad influence on the children. And so, she is willing to cover it at all times.
And she is German! Aaah! As some of you know, I have complicated, complete nonsense feeling about Germans. I knew some in Ireland and found them to be... the kind of people who own a great deal of rain gear. Still, I am aware of a special sub-group of Germans -- I call them the "Fun Germans" and suggest that you find them in rented convertibles on I-95 in South Florida. (The others pack their own bicycles and hit Shark Valley instead.)
What does it mean when she says she's flexible? Or independent? Should I be charmed or concerned by her repeated use of the word 'tinkering'? (As in, the children and I 'tinker' with toys, drums, etc.) More significant, what about these two months of "special police training" on her resume???
Also, of note, she enclosed a "piercing letter," which explains that she has a navel piercing, which she thinks is very beautiful, but also understands may be a bad influence on the children. And so, she is willing to cover it at all times.
posted by Mary Ellen at
9:44 AM
7 Comments:
My sister is married to a man raised in Berlin, whom she met when he was living in Dublin. He's German to the core, but says "feckin' eejit" a lot. Oh, and instead of sweatpants, he says "jogging trousers."
Your comment about raingear made me laugh out loud! My sister's husband is stern, rigid, a food snob, obsessed with gadgets, a big fan of all things related to western cowboys...in short, a typical German. But he's also bananas about our daughter. He's completely besotted with her.
I would say the fact that Ms. Tinkering wants to reassure you about the piercing shows conscientiousness and might be worth an interview, if only to clarify the police training. Sounds like perfect training for an au pair.
I think all babies could use some good ol' Germanic organizing. Whip 'em into shape. And perhaps you'll come home one day to Margaret and Josephine picnicking in the mountains of Arlington (or your park), singing doe-ray-mi, and dressed in your bedroom curtains.
Jogging trousers? That's fantastic. My German husband calls them his 'recreational pants.'
But they were Austrian in the Sound of Music! Austrian!
My upstairs neighbor is German. At a meeting of our co-op board where fire safety was being discussed someone suggested that we hold a fire drill in the evening, because if we held it during the day the nannies in the building might get confused, not knowing what it is. She interjected, "If your nannies do not know how to handle a fire drill your children will die!" It's a good point, but yowza, that straightforward German efficiency...
Why not a good old American nanny?
Don't mention the war.
Apologies for the Fawlty Towers reference, officially making this the Geekiest. Post. Ever.
Sadly, we can not afford a regular American nanny. They earn more than I did as a newspaper reporter in small-town Florida! Here in DC, for twins, they get between $15 and $20 an hour, plus benefits. Naturally, we would rather have a temperamental non-English speaking teenager who will accept her payment in eggplant parmigiana and pear cake.
Now, I'm off to don my jogging trousers and practice escaping from my bedroom window.
My German cousin Irena is probably one of the fun Germans of the cycling in Shark Valley variety. Fitness freak, yes, but her fave part of LA was Venice Beach. That's worth a couple of fun points in my book. Lots of my other cousins in Germany and certainly my dear late Tante Ursel & Onkel Otfried are certainly of the rain-gear, your-children-will-die variety.
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