It's Okay to Spend a Little of Your Paycheck on the Kids
-Xoxo Piper
The Struggle Bus: Room 125 |
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It's Okay to Spend a Little of Your Paycheck on the KidsNannying doesn't make the most money in the world, but it does make enough. I am using my paycheck to pay off college bills, but that doesn't mean every single dollar needs to go straight there. Spending $5-10 a week on the kids you are watching won't kill you. Yes, you are spending money that you earned, but it makes life a whole hell of a lot easier. Spending a few dollars to buy prizes to give out at the end of the week for good behavior or buying activity sets to play with one day. It is the best way to handle it. Michael likes to test him limits with nap time, but I have made it where every day he does to nap without being forced to, he gets a sticker and the end of the week, if he has 3 stickers, then he gets to go to the dollar store and pick out on toy. Same with my older girls and reading for 30 minutes, 3 stickers a week and they get to pick out something. It literally adds up to 4.25 for all four kids to pick out a prize at Dollar Tree and they LOOVE it. They work so hard to get stickers. Literally spending 10 dollar of my paycheck to get the kids to behave is so much easier than keeping all the money for myself and having rowdy kids.
-Xoxo Piper
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Dollar Store Coloring Books Are Your Best FriendAfter my first day of nannying, I knew I had to figure something out for boredom. Sometimes the older kids have to wait on the younger kids to finish up doing something or the younger kids are waiting on the big kids... Whatever it is, the kids get bored waiting. Obviously coloring books are not the most healthy for younger children because it limits them to a picture instead of creating their own creative masterpiece, but coloring books are an okay backup. Kids will color one or two pages and then get bored, but that just saved you 5-10 minutes of trying to entertain them. Plus. The books last a long time, they will color page by page and when you notice they only have a few left, ask them "what kind of coloring book would you like now". This allows them to get some input on the next book. Then they will be excited about coloring again.
I have a backpack on my constantly because my kids and I are always doing something. Going to the park, library, walk around the neighborhood, going to the pool, etc. I never know when I am going to need band aids, snacks, or anything. I put the kids names in the corner of their book and always keep them in my backpack. Then I can pull them out and use them anytime. -Xoxo Piper Always Shave Your LegsIf your kids are like mine, they are very cuddley. When we watch tv, the two youngest immediately gravitate towards me. Michael will climb on my lab and Katie will be leaning against me. It's a matter of time until they touch your legs... If they touch them and they are baby's butt smooth, they kids will gentle rub your leg. If it they touch them and they are a freaking forest of hair, they will be all "Miss Piper. Why do you have hair on your legs?" They don't have hair on their legs so they don't understand the concept of PUBERTY. unfortunately. Anyways. I started off with the mindset "oh they are kids, they won't care". No. Always shave your legs because they will want to cuddle. And it is so much more comfortable cuddling with freshly baby butt legs.
-Xoxo Piper If anyone is a coffee fanatic like I am, then you know that Starbucks has recently come out with 6 new frappuccino flavors. I'm so excited! So to celebrate this event, Piper thought it would be a cool idea for ether Meredith or I to do a rating of our favorite Frapp flavors. So without further ado, a ranking of my top ten favorites, including the 6 newly inducted flavors. Really you can't go wrong with any Starbucks drink. My personal overall favorites are: Hot Pumpkin Spice Latté, Hot Cinnamon Dolce Latté, Iced Passion Tea, and the Smores frappuccino. :)
<3 Ellie Adventurous Fairytale Movie: The HuntersThis movie has been in my list for forever. It sounded really cool. Its all about fairytale objects and the people who protect them. Plus I saw two really attractive guys and new it had to be great. This movie starts off slow and you can tell its a family night movie, but it picks up towards the end. It tests your knowledge of fairytales and you actually can learn quite a bit from it. Plus there are some attractive main characters... oh wait I think I've already said that. Who cares. THEY ARE HOT.
Title: The Hunters Released: 2013 Genre: Adventure Available on Netflix: YESS Summary: All the fairytales you've ever heard... they are real. The objects in them are also real and protected by an ancient society. Cinderella's slipper, the mirror from Snowwhite, the dwarfs house... all real. The worst part is that if they fall into the wrong hands, they become very dangerous. Three teenagers are suddenly tasked with protecting the world from the evil power seeking bad guys who are out to find the Mirror from Snowwhite. My Rating: 8/10 Looking for a thrilling adventure... this one is your movie. Plus it has two very attractive guys. -Xoxo Piper Nothing's Fine I'm Torn Movie: My Girlfriend's BoyfriendDamn this movie literally fucked me over with feelings. I started watching it because it was a romantic movie that sounded good. Netflix says its about a girl choosing between two guys which is the most cliche yet amazing concepts to a movie. As an observer to this girl's love life, you will pick a side. I promise you... either you will side with the rich, attractive business man or the down to earth, sensitive writer. As you watch this girl fall in love you know that heartbreak is bond to happen and you're just expectantly waiting for it. Either the guy you are rooting for will be pick or be heartbroken. This girl has spunk I will tell you that much. She is sassy and able to come up with insults on command. If not watching this movie for the romance, watch it to gain insight on how to get a personality that boy's would love.
Title: My Girlfriend's Boyfriend Released: 2010 Genre: Comedy, Romance (my favorites) Available on Netflix: OH YEA Summary: An aspiring author cannot find his inspiration until one day he meets this perfect girl. Unfortunately right after they hit it off, another more attractive, richer man comes along and also sweeps the same girl off her feet. Over time the girl falls for both guys for different reasons. The only problem... she is going to have to choose one eventually. Who will she choose and whose heart will she break? She will most likely break your heart along the way as well. My Rating: 10/10 The ending completely fucks you over because no matter who you are rooting for, you will come out of it happy. Yes, your heart was most likely shredded into a thousand pieces, but the ending will melt your heart back into one. I promise. Needing a romantic movie that will cause you heartbreak but make up for it in the end, watch this. -Xoxo Piper Kids love when you pay attention to them. Unfortunately, despite what the kids think, I do not have 3 sets of eyes and arms. I'll be loading the dishwasher as Ryan asks me to watch him play a video game while Natalie is pulling my arm trying to show me her latest art masterpiece, and Kelsey wants me to make lunch. I can't do all of that at once! I'm only one person! So I've learned to take the time with each child individually and give them my full attention. I'll watch Ryan play minecraft for 15 minutes, then I'll make an art sculpture out of modeling clay with Natalie, and finally I'll supervise Kelsey making her peanut butter and jelly sandwich while she tells me all about her plans for the weekend. By spending the time with each child, they don't feel overpowered or left out by their siblings because it's 1 on 1. If I'm lucky, sometimes they'll all want to do the same thing, like watch a movie or play a board game. Then I can somewhat rest as they watch/play together. :)
<3 Ellie In college, you will have early classes and there is no avoiding that fact. But its okay. Coffee is here. Whether it is getting a coffee maker for you dorm or stopping by Starbucks to use your morning meal plan, coffee in the morning is a must in college. Coffee is not only good for waking you up or keeping you awake during class, it is for your taste buds to enjoy all morning long. Drinking down that warm cup of joe in the mornings will always bring a smile to your face. Whether you have a test or just a boring lecture, feeling the warm caffeine soak into your mouth will force you to see the sunlight on a rainy day. Now this may seem a little too optimistic, but that may be because I just had a cup of coffee myself. A cold day, your cup is there to warm you up. A warm day, add some ice and chill out. After one cup of coffee you feel like you can do anything. Late for class? No problem. Forgot to do the homework? Do it in the first 10 minutes of class. No matter what, coffee has a way of bringing warmth to your mornings. Always take a cup to class with you. I always make fresh coffee 5 minutes before I leave for class. It gives me something to enjoy during class and fills my stomach slowly so that I am not starving by the end of the class. Nothing should come between you and your cup of coffee. If you don't like coffee, well your going to have to start to love it in college because it is a necessity to complete everything that is needed to be done. Meredith picks up Starbucks before classes. Always a different kind of frappuccino. Ellie would use my Keurig to make a Starbucks blend and add french vanilla creamer. I go French Vanilla medium blend with caramel creamer. Just thinking about it makes me want to have another cup.
I promise when you get to college, a cup a day will barely be enough. It gives you the boost to continue the day and stay awake for class. What is it doctors say... A cup of coffee a day keeps the bad grades away. Yea. That's right -Xoxo Piper After living with these people for 9 months, it is certainly weird not to see them every day during the summer. I love these bitches, so it's been quite a struggle trying to now figure out how to live without them. It's like a long distance relationship lol. So without further ado, a list of the struggles of living away from your friends during the summer. Counting down the days until you can see them againYes I have a countdown app on my phone telling me when I'll get to see them again. Don't judge. Having to communicate through textingTexting is great, but you can't always express something in words. And sometimes you just need to rant. Capital letters don't always do it justice. Snapchats can only be 10 seconds longSo then you turn to snapchats. You then realize though that snapchats can only be 10 seconds long. This means you end up having to send 20 snapchats to get your point across. It would be much easier if you could see each other for real. Facetime isn't the same as in personI love facetime, but it still isn't the same as in person talking. I guess it's the closest we'll get until we'll see each other for real though so it will have to do. <3 Ellie
Kinda Fucked Up Movie: Ask Me AnythingThis movie is nothing like the description that Netflix gives. I started watching it because I love Britt Robertson as an actress and her movies are always touching. This movie is crazy fucked up and really messes with my mind. It's cute though and I kinda liked it in a messed up way. Netflix says its about "a teenager who writes an anonymous but highly revealing blog chronicling her sex life" Yes that does happen but that's not what should be in the summary. Yes there is "sex", but its all about the complications that come with having an interest in older men. No sex is shown on screen, actually it is hinted at but thank god none was really shown. If someone wanted a romantic movie, nah. nah. nah. Its actually kinda dark.
Title: Ask Me Anything Released: 2014 (In December so its actually pretty recent) Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller Available on Netflix: Yes. Just Got Added I think Summary: This teenage girl has just graduated high school and decided to take off a year. Her counselor asks her to start a blog. On the blog this girl explains how she has a boyfriend who is her age, a fuck buddy who she loves who has already graduated college, and all the other men she finds along the way. She discovers really dark things from her past, is hit with problems one after another, and then ends in the most crazy way. My Rating: 8/10... it was good but also messed up. It hooks you though. To find out how it ends is enough to watch it. Literally the entire movie is just fucked over with the ending and it makes the entire concept of the movie so much more amazing and memorizing. Literally the writer of the book that inspired this movie is a genius. The ending just makes the movie so above and beyond. I hope what I've said makes you want to watch the movie... just for the ending and to be mindfucked. Haha. But please do not watch this movie expecting romance (like I was) because you will be fucked over with depression and darkness because the movie is actually super saddening in a good way. -Xoxo Piper |
AuthorsWe are just 4 roommates surviving college together. Our real names are classified, but our stories are not. We use fake names so we can share even more with you. Archives
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