Ushering him to the bathroom, I helped him wash up and change. He was well on his way to being fully potty trained, only wearing pull ups at night. Even then, I made sure to take him to the bathroom whenever I got up. I couldn’t have my boy being labeled as anyone’s piss pot, so potty training before three was a must. After tossing the sheets and blanket into the wash, he helped me put on fresh linen.
As I chilled with him in his room, I remembered that I hadn’t given Thyri a time to come through. Pulling my phone from my basketball shorts, I sent her a text.
Me: I just noticed I hadn’t given you a time to come by. Does two o’clock work for you?
347-497-8437: It does. I meant to ask you the other day, is EJ potty trained?
Me: He’s at about 85%. We plan to be fully potty trained before January 1st.
347-497-8437: We’ll make it happen. See you soon.
Reading her text, I looked over at EJ, who sat in his recliner with his hand behind his head. I’d secured a nanny. Now, I had to sit back and watch things play out.
Thyri pulledup to the house a few minutes before two. I stood at the front window, watching her pull a white Rangeinto my driveway. Yonkers was quieter than the city. I lived in a ducked off neighborhood where people pretty much stayed to themselves. It was one of the reasons I’d chose it out of the four houses my cousin, Minnie, had me tour. It was private and spacious, more house than me and EJ needed but the perfect fit, nonetheless.
I watched as she stepped out of her car, swinging her purse over her shoulder and glancing behind her before proceeding to the front door. She was aware. Alert. Her movement seemed like it was second nature to her, like something she’d learned growing up. I made mental note about it. Being alert was an important part of her job.
Walking over to the door, I opened it before she could knock.
“Reporting for duty.” She smiled.
“Come in,” I said, gesturing with my head for her to come inside. “I can take your coat.”
“Thank you.” Pulling her full length coat off, she handed it to me.
As I walked around her to hang her coat up, I caught a glimpse of her ass. That mothafucka was shaped like the ripest peach. I wasn’t sure what I expected for her nanny attire, but if this yoga set she had on was the standard, I was wit’ it. Yeah, I had told Aura I wasn’t looking for a date, and I really wasn’t on the market for a woman. A nigga had eyes though. And I hoped that she had this set in every color.
“It’s really cozy in here. And it smells good. You sure there’s no woman living here?” She turned to me with her hand on her hip.
I chuckled. “Why a woman gotta live here for a nigga shit to be clean and smell good? How you know I don’t take the trips to Burlington Maxx and At Home for the smell good shit and cozy shit?”
She covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. “I would’ve believed you had you not combined the names of two stores. It’s Burlington and TJ Maxx.”
“Oh,” I replied, caught. “I mean, I do shit. For the most part, when my moms see something that fits the house, she just picks it up, drops it off to me, and I make it work.”
“You’re doing a good job,” she complimented.
“Thank you.”
“If you don’t mind, I brought some shoes to change into. I didn’t want to track snow all on your floor, and I don’t wanna walk around barefoot.”
“That’s cool. You can change, and I’ll put your boots in the laundry room. EJ just went down for a nap not too long ago, so I’ll give you a quick tour.”
“Naps are essential so good for him.”
Once she was changed into a pair of bedazzled Crocs, I gave her the tour. We started in the laundry room, then the living room, kitchen, dining room, EJ’s playroom, the two guest bedrooms, and guest bathrooms. I left EJ’s room for last, wanting him to show her around once he was up.
“This is a kid’s playground,” she commented, as I closed the door to the playroom.
“Yeah. I think all the options overstimulate him sometimes. That’s why he’s usually in his room or my room, flipping on some shit.”
She laughed, following me into the kitchen where we sat at the island to talk the numbers and duties. She was direct with her expectations. Asked questions that mattered. Repeated numbers back to me for clarification and basically negotiated her own salary with no objection from me. We also discussed ways to go about caring for EJ. I was clear on what worked, and she gave her insight from a mom standpoint.
“Kids thrive when there’s consistency and a schedule in place.” She pointed out after I mentioned that EJ didn’t really have a set schedule or a bedtime.
“So, I shouldn’t let him tire himself out by bouncing off the wall?”
“I’m not necessarily saying that. But if he had a schedule he ran off of, it wouldn’t take bouncing off the walls for him to be tired. And I know schedule sounds so formal, but there’s ways to make that fun. Same when it comes to potty training.”
