Dateline Boston — This week I’m training the new nanny who will be taking over when I finish my nannying job in a couple of weeks. I’ve showed her around the house, talked about naps, bottles and routines. I didn’t realize I also would be explaining the way the kids and I often communicate, which may or may not be different from how others do it.
It started when I asked Toddler if he needed a Dip. A dip? Cheese dip? A dip in the bathtub? What was I talking about? Well, it all started with a chant. I’ve realized I make up chants all the time. When Toddler was a baby and I changed his diaper, I would sing,
Dippa dippa DI per
Pip pip PI per!
I sang it to him for at least two years. It morphed into Dippa dippa diaper, and now it’s just Dip. When I ask Toddler if he needs a Dip, I’m asking if he needs his diaper changed. This is not to be confused with “You’re going to take a Dip Dip,” which means a bath lasting three minutes.
One of my favorite songs from childhood is called, “Riding in My Car,” by Woody Guthrie:
Take me ridin’ in the car, car
Take me ridin’ in the car, car
Take you ridin’ in the car, car
I’ll take you ridin’ in my car
I’ve never forgotten it, but I hadn’t heard it in over 30 years when Toddler and I went to the Children’s Museum. There was a car we could ride in, and it had three buttons to press, each with a different song. When I pressed a button and heard “Riding in My Car,” I almost started crying. Since then, we often sing it, or we sing other words to the tune of that song:
Let’s all go to the Cape, Cape
Let’s all go to the Cape, Cape…
Come on, eat your snack now,
Come on, eat your snack now…
You get the picture. We sing all day long. A recent chant I made up is one I do when I’m sitting on the couch holding the baby. I’ll stand him on my legs, hold his hands, and sing,
Standing UP, baby!
Standing UP, baby!
Toddler was singing that song randomly, so I had to explain it to New Nanny. Also in need of explanation? The difference between saying, “You’re a Mister” (love and affection), and “He’s being a Mister” (boy who is trying my patience). Nicknames: Bup, Bip, Angel, Nasty Girl (the alter ego of well-behaved girl). When Toddler was born, I called him The Brother. When Baby was born, I started calling him That Baby. “I have to go get That Baby from his nap.”
There are so many ways we communicate; it’s our own special language. New Nanny will have her own language, of course. When the children are grown, I’ll be happy to tell them stories of when I was their nanny. Till then, I’ll be happy to get them a Dip if they need one.
Ms. Vaillancourt may be contacted at snobbyblog@gmail.com
