Rosie Update

Rosie is doing great! She has already been out with some other au pairs in the area and had fun. She also joined a gym this week with another au pair that lives close by. Hats off to her!



So far, she is still VERY quiet. She's seen us engage in joking, pillow fighting, dancing, singing, working out, the Brazilian Butt Lift, etc. I'm not sure what else we can do to bring her out of her shell. She's also seen more than half our family naked - all under the age of 6, but still that's something, right? On some level she's got to be thinking, "Damn, I've got a handle on all the crazies in this house."

The low point for her has been cockroaches. No idea why they decided to come out of the woodwork for her, but they are here. We even called the exterminator out for a re-treat on the house - focused mainly on her room and bathroom. Hopefully that will take care of the problem. She is so heebie-jeebie about it too. It's almost comical. One day this week I came home to find a glass bowl on the ground in the formal living room with a nasty cockroach dead on its back inside. I dutifully took care of it, while the "kids" watched. Pretty funny and gross at the same time.

Rosie tends to be cold in spite of the heat. She often wears a light sweater and jeans when she is inside. Lindsey did the same thing. Apparently it takes a while to get used to the air conditioning ("aircon") that we blast all day here in Texas. She enjoys drinking tea and beer - not together. She has eaten everything I've made for her. What a trooper.

She gives the kids a bath every other day. She bears the disgustingness of George's poop fairly well. She has taken the kids to the park, the museum, and out shopping. She has been swimming with the kids, and has already prepared them to start back to school by helping them with homework. In the picture below, I came home and she had just finished giving George a bath and he was sitting on this rocking horse buck naked saying, "Rock, rock, rock" as he rocked back and forth and grinned at both of us. I tried to get my camera to take a picture, but I wasn't fast enough. There was too much to risk by letting him continue running around naked so he has a diaper on in this picture.


So far, so good. The kids are also just great with her, except for the occasional backtalk, which Chuck and I are working on. I told her, however, that she's going to have to put her own foot down because if she doesn't they will walk all over her when Chuck and I aren't around. I hope she puts them in their place. I'd hate to hear that she secretly hates my kids because they are being brats. George has been sick for the past couple weeks so she hasn't really seen much of his good side, but it is starting to come back as he gets well. Like most men, George is very cranky when he's sick.

Her driving, I assume, has improved. She's driving daily now. She's really getting to know her way around, and I love that she's meeting friends out and about already.

It's been very interesting at the house because as much as she is an au pair, just like Lindsey, she has a very different personality from Lindsey. It's been fun. I hope it will continue to be fun throughout the year.