I'm a Manny

Several people have asked me what I'm doing over the next few months to fill my time before heading off to PT school. I'm a manny. Yes, you read that correctly. I'm not a nanny, but instead, a man-ny for a 5 month old baby boy. He is their first child and I have the distinct honor and privilege of providing for him Monday thru Friday.

Now, I know what you have to be thinking. Burke, have you gone completely nuts? But before you ask that question, let me tell how I got to this point and what the experience has been like thus far.

Last year, as my friends were preparing for the arrival of their first baby, we were discussing what they were going to do for child care. I just so happens that I had a 5 month (and now it could be 8 months) window between finishing up my pre-requisites and PT school. Since I had that time to rest, I thought I'd throw the offer out on the table not really understanding what I was committing to.

Long story short, we decided it would work, so in January I took over the reigns full time. I jumped in feet first and have not looked back. I do it all -- change his diaper, rock him to sleep, heat the bottle and feed him, and mix in some great play time to work on his gross motor movements. My friends told me this is their wedding gift to my future wife. They said they are only going to buy her a card with "You're Welcome" written on the inside of the card. It hit me this week that I'm probably the only single guy in the Metroplex who has never been married that has a carseat base in the back of his car. Who said there is not a first for everything?

So, what have a learned over the past month and half? Here are some of my thoughts (in bullet point format for all you type A, organized people reading my blog):

• It's a FULL TIME JOB! If you think I sit around playing tiddly winks and watching Oprah, All My Children or the Young and the Restless, you are mistaken. Hats off to all moms because I've realized that caring for a kid is a full time job. I can't imagine having more than 1.
• Running errands has a completely different meaning. What normally takes me 30 minutes to an hour, now takes 2-3 hours to do. There is so much to think about and take care of just to get in the car and go somewhere. Just getting him dressed and ready to leave takes 30 minutes.
• There is nothing glorious about changing a diaper. I have a very funny story in relation to this point. I plan to share it in the near future on this blog.

Keep checking back -- I plan to continue chronicling my "Manny Adventure" on this blog.