being an au pair is not in any way glamourous. for example, sometimes you don't think the disappointment of the 7 year old (not making it to karate practice on time because the au pair got a little misguided) will ever go away. or that is what i felt like last night. i was given the responsibility to get erik (7 year old) to karate last night because grandpa, who usually takes him, had plans and the mom had to work late. i was the last resort, and that also meant that the little ones would be coming with us. no big deal, right? EXCEPT, i really didn't have a clue where i was taking him, for i had actually only been there twice, but had never driven there myself. i mean, i had a general idea of where the place was located (in fact it's an old regiment that looks like a castle...how do you miss a castle?!). however, the GPS sucks, we got stuck in rush hour traffic (why we had to leave an hour early to drive 6 miles), it was dark so i didn't recognize the buildings that well, i hate swedish highway signs, and i had two kids in the back who were thirsty and i couldn't reach their juice boxes (yes, i thought i was ahead of the game by bringing them snacks and drinks so they could have them while we were waiting for erik to finish practice). well, we ended up at liseberg (only about 3 miles away at this point) while waiting in traffic and got to see a TON of christmas lights, which was definitely the only highlight of the misguided adventure, however, we only had to 4 minutes left to make it on time. i'm stressing the whole time. erik was so angry at me and we got there 15 minutes late. i told him to rush in and we would be waiting for him after practice (practice is an hour long), but when i got the little ones shoes off and settled, i found him in the administrators office sobbing. we forgot his karate card...heavy sigh...dangit. i am the worst au pair ever! i tried to explain to the administrator that i got turned around and there was traffic and the gps is not updateed...she didn't really understand me, what's new? he was so embarrassed he just wanted to go home, of which i can understand.
i have to say i was really nervous about the ride home and getting a lecture from a 7 year old about how he never wants me to take him to karate again and how i should know where i was going. i was right, i got an earful of a tearful swedish lecture. i started apologizing in my best swedish, which consisted of, "i'm so sorry your american au pair is an idiot." he seemed to like that and concluded that i didn't have a brain. i tried to make a funny and said, "you know what, the scarecrow in the wizard of oz sings a song called "if i only had a brain..." dangit, he didn't laugh. oops, bad timing, again. i tried to explain that i really did try my best but erik was right, my brain just ceased to exist for an hour. hey, it happens, maybe more frequently than i'd like, but eventually the kids had a little more understanding. eventually i had them laughing at their crazy american nanny again. emma, my little angel in the backseat, concluded with "it's okay to be dumb sometimes" with elias backing her up,"yeah, ok be dumb sometimes." (i promise this is so much funnier in swedish) gee, thanks guys hahaha even though i was more upset at myself for my misguidedness, i had to laugh. i just love kids. they are so quick to forgive and forget. even a scarecrow like me.
whew, anybody want to be an au pair? contact me before you do.
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