Fifteen years ago (Wow, do I ever feel old now..) I had my first job. I was a summertime gig at a gymnastics camp with children from aged 3-13. I worked mostly with the youngest group (3-5 year olds) and enjoyed it. It didn't pay well, by all means, but it was my first job aside from babysitting for friends and family.
I was moved up from "Coach In Training" to "Coach" after the first month. I'd like to think that was because I was awesome and knew what I was doing but I think it was because they were understaffed and needed someone to lead the little guys.
At the end of the summer I began coaching classes. I had absolutely no experience in gymnastics. Hell, I couldn't even do a somersault. But I had fun working with the kids and was actually pretty good at it.
I got another job offer at the same location - birthday party hostess. I would lead children in the gym for an hour, they would go have pop, hot dogs or pizza and a cake. They could open presents and then go back for free time in the gym. Sounds fun, right?
Enter, stage right : My lesson. (Don't worry, I was getting to it!)
Junk food and kids don't typically mix, right? Well, add in jumping, tumbling and running after gorging on cake and goodies. It makes for a mess...
I credit (blame?) my job for my ability of cleaning up blood and vomit without even flinching. It really doesn't bother me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I would rather *not* have to do it, but when the occasion arises, I don't really care.
Last night, after running a fever for a couple hours, we sat down to eat dinner. After a couple of bites, D threw up his lunch, snack and whatever bit of dinner he just ate. If you have already seen my post about the IKEA highchair we have, you'll know I am a fan of it. Well, now I have even more love for it. The lip on the tray makes for an excellent puke-catcher. Superb!
My husband and I stripped down the baby and the two of them went off to get him dressed into PJ's and brush his teeth. I ended up with clean up duty. Bleh.
Thankfully, I had lots of practice with upchuck so while it wasn't pleasant, I managed to do it without gagging.
My husband, on the other hand, was conveniently busy with D until I finished wiping, scrubbing and disinfecting everything, twice.
So I want to thank all those children that attended birthday parties at my work and threw up their cake all over the floor or trampoline. And the parents that snuck away before they were put to work. Without you, I wouldn't have this amazing skill...
I was moved up from "Coach In Training" to "Coach" after the first month. I'd like to think that was because I was awesome and knew what I was doing but I think it was because they were understaffed and needed someone to lead the little guys.
At the end of the summer I began coaching classes. I had absolutely no experience in gymnastics. Hell, I couldn't even do a somersault. But I had fun working with the kids and was actually pretty good at it.
I got another job offer at the same location - birthday party hostess. I would lead children in the gym for an hour, they would go have pop, hot dogs or pizza and a cake. They could open presents and then go back for free time in the gym. Sounds fun, right?
Enter, stage right : My lesson. (Don't worry, I was getting to it!)
Junk food and kids don't typically mix, right? Well, add in jumping, tumbling and running after gorging on cake and goodies. It makes for a mess...
I credit (blame?) my job for my ability of cleaning up blood and vomit without even flinching. It really doesn't bother me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I would rather *not* have to do it, but when the occasion arises, I don't really care.
Last night, after running a fever for a couple hours, we sat down to eat dinner. After a couple of bites, D threw up his lunch, snack and whatever bit of dinner he just ate. If you have already seen my post about the IKEA highchair we have, you'll know I am a fan of it. Well, now I have even more love for it. The lip on the tray makes for an excellent puke-catcher. Superb!
My husband and I stripped down the baby and the two of them went off to get him dressed into PJ's and brush his teeth. I ended up with clean up duty. Bleh.
Thankfully, I had lots of practice with upchuck so while it wasn't pleasant, I managed to do it without gagging.
My husband, on the other hand, was conveniently busy with D until I finished wiping, scrubbing and disinfecting everything, twice.
So I want to thank all those children that attended birthday parties at my work and threw up their cake all over the floor or trampoline. And the parents that snuck away before they were put to work. Without you, I wouldn't have this amazing skill...