Tuesday started Class One at 5pm.  The unit was on La Casa(The House) and used the phrases

¿Es= Is it?…           Es=It is…               No es.= It is not…

There are 10 pictures of items found in a house, and they have a question under them. We are to determine if the correct word is used. If it is not, we have to rewrite the word with the above 3 phrase including Senor, Senorita or Senora in the beginning.  I get started and start rocking after I check the answer key to figure out what we are to do.  I didn’t cheat! I do awesome on the first 6, then on number 8 I forgot have the sentence that I was to write. Now this is because I realized in 3-6, I left out half the sentence.

Senor Kidlet #3 is very strict..he marked me off for 3 wrong because it was for each section I missed.

See the mistakes I made? UGGH!We got a bonus point for coming to class. Then you can see how he graded!

During the classwork time, my cell phone rang. It was sitting on my desk and we were working on the couch. I asked if I could answer it. Senor said no. I was like OK, laughing.  He goes and answers the phone. It was Glenda from Nannytransitions. He tells her that I am not allowed to speak on the phone because I am in class. I hear her laughing all the way over to the couch. I am laughing too. He finishes chatting with her and then TURNS MY CELL OFF!  He comes back to the couch and gives me 2 demerits in the grade book for my phone ringing! That brings my grade from a 80 to a 76. In the book it says you can’t move on to a new unit if you don’t get 80 or above. Thanks so much Glenda

We got a bonus point for coming to class. Then you can see how he graded!

He gives me an opportunity for extra credit! Take all the 10 words and 3 phrases writing them 3 times in Spanish and once in English. Well it is after midnight, and class is at 10am….I still have yet to do it.   Oh and don’t forget there is homework too-Drawing a picture as many items and people in your living room as you know how to label in Spanish! Great I know table, TV,window, door  phone, lamp, hahah  they are some of the 10 words I learned today. 

This will be a long Spanish summer at this rate!

Stay tund for Class 2 and my quiz on Thursday!

Summer is here and now I am taking Spanish Class!

No I am not fluent in Spanish yet. Hopefully in 30 days my Spanish grade will go up a letter grade. That should go from a F to a D then :)  Kidlet #3 has struggled with Spanish the past two quarters and ended up with a C for the final year end grade.  Mom was not too happy, considering she speaks spanish.   Yesterday Kidlet and I were running errands and we found a teacher’s supply store. He asked to go in and look. I said sure.  He wanted a grade book. I said no. Then I discovered this awesome Spanish book called EZ Spanish by Barron’s. It was $15 at the store. I said hey lets get this book.  He said if I can be the teacher. I laughed and said sure. He talked me into getting him a grade book/lesson planner for 9 bucks too.

We discussed how we would do this daily so that he can impress mom with his new knowledge and understanding of Spanish before school starts in the fall.

Stay tuned for updates on Clase española.

Today is my friend, Jen’s last day at her nanny job of 16 years! I have been a professional nanny for 14 years this June. The longest I have been with a family is four years. I am hoping I will be with my current family for 7 years, 2 down this July.  I hope to drive Kidlet #3 to college. 

Back to Jen, she has been sharing her thoughts over the past two weeks with Glenda.  This is such a unique ”journal” of thoughts.  I am hoping you take the time to read Jen’s journal entries at Nanny Transitions.   They start here on June 6, with an opening from Glenda and continue through this weekend recounting Jen’s last day.

Glenda is also doing a give away for the wonderful book “Like a Second Mother”  This book is now out of print, so make sure you don’t pass this chance to get your hands on it. The contest runs through June 21, please show Jen some support by leaving her comments.  Details at the end of that post.

Last Thursday, I went to Sam’s Club and the store, to get some stuff. Kidlet #1 asked me to get apples, bananas & pears. I said OK. Kidlet #3 and I have been eating grapes and cherries for the past two weeks.

I pick up a bag of apples and container of Grapes & cherries at Sam’s. At the store I get a 5 pack of bananas and 4 pears.

Fast forward to tonight’s dinner with all three of the kidlets- spaghetti/meatballs, apple slices, salad & cherries. Kidlet #1 announces to me not to buy any more fruit until checking with the house first. I was like didn’t you tell me to get apples, bananas & pears? Yes he replies. The bananas have been eaten, like 3 apples and NO Pears. He goes on to tell me not to waste the fruit because of the starving children in Africa.

I explain to him since everyone is home having fruit around is good to eat. I got the lettuce/tomatoes because everyone was home for lunch and we can make salads. All three kidlets were laughing.

This week will be so much fun for our start of summer. Kidlet #3 is in school till Friday..but only till 12:30. I just love summer vacation with all 3 kids!

moral of the day: Don’t listen to the kids and just buy what you want

 Number 18

belonging to

Mallette

from Minnesota! 

Please remember that this is the final weekend to enter the INA Membership Giveaway. (full details at this link)

This giveaway is worth $95. That is about 10 movies that you don’t need to skip so that you can get your INA Membership for the upcoming year.

Here is a breakdown of what you need to do:
Starting on Friday, May 15 and running through Monday June 1, we will offer you the opportunity to win a one year INA Nanny membership (Valued at $95) If you are already an INA member we will pay your membership for the following year.

You can gain entries by doing any or all of the following.

1. Sign up to follow either blog. (Each blog counts for 1 entry so if you sign up for all 4 you will get 4 entries). Please leave a comment at each blog stating that you signed up to follow or already do.
http://www.nannytransitions.com/
http://www.creativenanny.blogspot.com/
http://www.nannyadventures.com/
http://www.thefinancialnanny.com/

2. Talk about this give away and post a link to our blogs on your blog, talk about it to a yahoogroup, or post about it on a message board like NannyNetwork , Nanny Island Twitter it, or put it on Facebook.Send us a copy or a link and each one will count as an entry.Send it to nannytransitions@aol.com (put INA Giveaway in subject)

or

3. In addition to that you will get double entries for posting on any of our blogs

a. Why you want to be a member of a professional organization,

or

b. What it means to you to be a member of a professional nanny group.

The winner will be chosen from random.org

On my way back from the airport, I took a few photos, from the car, they aren’t the best. I think you will get the idea though.

It was really peaceful watching Washington DC and the monuments come alive today.

The Capitol building being awaken by the sun!

Sunrise over the Jefferson Memorial & Potomac River

Sunrise over the Washington Monument & Potomac River

Today will be a great and awesome day!

Michelle just sent out a notice to friends stating:  stop calling and writing CVS! They are taking action! THANK YOU! OUR VOICES WERE HEARD! I received a call from Papatya Tankut, VP of Pharmacy Professional Services. They ARE going to develop educational materials, add something to their website and to their circular about the importance of knowing your medications and doses and asking questions when you’re not sure. Yea friends!

How great is that , everyone’s emails and calls were heard and CVS is going to be taking some educational action, which is what Michelle wanted to happen! YEAH!

Just this week a fellow nanny mom friend, Michelle LaRowe, of mine had a prescription dosage mistake at CVS.  Her 10 mth old daughter was to get 3cc’s of an antibiotic but the CVS pharmacy wrote it as 3 teaspoons, around 15% more than the recommended dosage of antibiotic. Based on this I have learned from several other friends how many times CVS has messed up other people’s prescriptions. I do get my prescriptions filled at CVS, and I can say I will be considering a change now based on this.

Michelle quickly jumped on the wagon of sharing her story with the public so others can be informed.  As nannies we can have that extra eye/ear for directions from doctors and pharmacists. Michelle knew when her husband told her what the CVS worker told him sounded wrong.  

Please read her story at the Cape Cod Times and see her story on Channel 7 news.  Then please email CVS so that they can get further education out to others so a mistake can be avoided like in Michelle’s family case. You can also call CVS at 401-765-1500 and use the company directory. Ask for Helena Faulke. You’ll get the lead sec for the board of directors. VOICE YOUR CONCERN and THE NEED FOR EDUCATION!!!

Nanny Michelle requests:
Help me start a grassroots effort to get CVS to educate parents and
caregivers about medication administration. CC me on the email!

email to: MJDeangelis@cvs.com (director of PR) and tabrennan@cvs.com (VP)and caarcand@cvs.com (board of directors, marketing)
email to: MJDeangelis@cvs.com, tabrennan@cvs.com, caarcand@cvs.com,
cc: michellelarowe@gmail.com

Subject line: Prevent Another Medication Mix Up
(sample letter follows:)
Dear Mr. DeAngelis,

Dear Mike, Helena Faulker and Dr. Brennan,

My friend and fellow professional nanny Michelle LaRowe Conover was recently given an incorrect label, instructing her to give her daughter, Abigail, who is 10 months old, 15 times the daily dose of an antibiotic from her local CVS. Thanks for issuing a formal apology to channel 7 news in Boston.

As a professional caregiver, I know the importance of listening to the doctor as he/she prescribes the medication, double checking medication labels and asking the pharmacist questions if things don’t seem right.

I, along with many of my fellow professional nannies, feel strongly that CVS should develop a parent education pamphlet, instructing parents and caregivers to follow those same three rules.

Unfortunately, we only hear about medication mix ups usually when something bad happens. While many people would have followed the directions from the technician in dispensing an incorrect dose, our friend and fellow nanny knew from her experience in working with children that something was wrong.

I urge you to encourage CVS to make a difference and empower parents with the information they need to keep their children safe. Mistakes will happen, but with your help, we can help keep kids safe.

NAME
TITLE
PHONE

———-
———–
Michelle adds:
hi there,
for us to make an impact it needs to go out with 24 hours of the news.
if you can get it out today it would be great and we will have a chance.
- Incase your wanted to see the news story the link to it is below. It’s
good that it validates the story and CVS takes responsibility.
 
http://wn.whdh.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&
clipId1=3780998&at1=Station+1&
h1=Local+mother+catches+pharmacy+mistake+%2805%2F20%2F09%29&rnd=87791006

Since returning from the INA Conference in Dallas 3 weeks ago, my good friend Glenda and I have been brainstorming about how to get the message out to nannies that we can’t simply sit around lamenting about the lack of respect our profession gets. We have to be actively working to improve the image of the nanny profession and one of the most important ways to do that is to be actively involved in a professional nanny organization.

We both knew and loved the late Harriette Grant. Harriette was a Co Founder of the first and longest running support group in the United States. Association of DC Area Nannies (ADCAN). She was a founding member of INA, a board member of INA and the first INA Nanny of the Year in 1990 We will be posting her story on her June 3rd Birthday and in honor of her upcoming birthday Glenda and I decided we would work in conjunction to give away an INA Membership on our blogs.

I have two blogs. The first blog is http://www.nannyadventures.com/. This is a blog about my adventures as a nanny, helpful tools for parents and nannies as well as other items of interest. I was also inspired by Dr. Lynne Kenney at the INA Conference to brand herself. I am launching my new blog, The Financial Nanny that is focused on helping nannies (and others) save money and invest wisely with the start of this contest.

Glenda’s first blog is about nannies in transition from leaving their nanny positions to other changes. It is called Nanny Transitions. Her second blog is highlighting her creative side as The Creative Nanny.

Starting on Friday, May 15 and running through Monday June 1, we will offer you the opportunity to win a one year INA Nanny membership (Valued at $95) If you are already an INA member we will pay your membership for the following year.

You can gain entries by doing any or all of the following.

1. Sign up to follow either blog. (Each blog counts for 1 entry so if you sign up for all 4 you will get 4 entries). Please leave a comment at each blog stating that you signed up to follow or already do.
http://www.nannytransitions.com/
http://www.creativenanny.blogspot.com/
http://www.nannyadventures.com/
http://www.thefinancialnanny.com/

2. Talk about this give away and post a link to our blogs on your blog, talk about it to a yahoogroup, or post about it on a message board like NannyNetwork , Nanny Island
Twitter it, or put it on Facebook.

Send us a copy or a link and each one will count as an entry.
Send it to nannytransitions@aol.com (put INA Giveaway in subject) or

3. In addition to that you will get double entries for posting on any of our blogs
a. Why you want to be a member of a professional organization, or
b. What it means to you to be a member of a professional nanny group

The winner will be chosen from random.org and announced on all four blogs on Wednesday June 3, 2009. Good luck!

For more information on the INA please visit their website, their blog, their Facebook fan page or twitter.