What Are You??

      It hasn't been until recent years that random strangers (Even some friends) have questioned me.  I walked into the hospital and was approached by an employee, "What are you?" At work, walking around the apartment building with Itty E, many of the residents have asked the parents "Where is your nanny from?" when they respond Canton, the residents have been baffled.



Voluminous curly hair is not a norm. Blue eyes are more commonly paired with blonde's. Tanned skin only comes in the summer. (Or possibly in January from the tanning bed!)  However, this is me in a nutshell and people aren't afraid to ask "What I am" to put their minds at ease. My response is very simple.... "I am as white as them come!"


     Though some laugh I am possibly the mailman's child with my curly hair, I am the perfect combination of my German father and Czechoslovakian mother. Blue eyes are rare both sides of my family, but my curls have been traced back to my paternal Grandmother, and maternal Great-Grandmother. I might not look like my brother's either but they both have wavy hair as well.


 Yes there is a little of this and little of that in my blood, but like always, I am as white as white can be!!

MEANT To Be

Within the last 2 weeks in SC I had 3 phone interviews in the Ohio/Pennsylvania area. The first family to call was in Cleveland who pretty much wanted to hire me on the spot if she could. She and her husband wanted to meet me asap which is why I came home so soon. I secretly had my heart set on a family in Pittsburgh but figured I would interview with them just to get my feet wet. They were new parents to a baby girl, Itty E, and were only a few years older than myself. Talking with them was so natural. We had some of the same up bringing and the same views on what we want for Itty E. They knew I had an interview set up with the family in PA within the week to which she responded "Well, what do we have to do to hire you before you interview with them?"  I was shocked that they wanted to hire me ON THE SPOT! They had already interviewed plenty of women that just weren't the right fit. Itty E cried when a few held her. With me, I didn't leave her sight. I like to think it was her thinking of how much she would like to get her fingers in my hair.

  Walking out the door the mom was on the phone with the school. Is this even for real?! I called my mom to tell her how well the interview went and just a few minutes later school was calling me with new that the parents wanted to offer me a contract. I was absolutely shocked!! Apparently this was all meant to be.


  So it has been nearly 4 weeks now and I am in love with my new family. Itty E is as cute as cute can be with chubby cheeks, gorgeous blue eyes, fare complexion and light hair. Both parents text me all day long asking how things are going and telling me over and over how much they appreciate me. I keep asking myself over and over "Is this for real?" Even on the weekends both parents send me pictures of the baby and let me know how long she sleeps for. We are working together as a team to get her on normal feeding and sleeping schedules which has been successful. They want to know everything about me, my friends and my family which is amazing! They also have joked on a few occasions that I didn't read the fine print at the bottom of the contract: Agreeing to stay until Itty E is 25. " You are going to college with her and making sure she only drinks 2 beers at the frat house and gets home safely." It was a good laugh after I told them I would be the wrong influence on her in college.

My special treat from JAK when I arrived

  I am contracted for 30 hrs a week with 2 weeks paid vacation. They are currently building a house in summit county which won't be done until January. This being a live out position, I am staying with JAK until they move, then I will find an apartment close by.

O-H-I-O Here I Come!

  I drove home Tuesday, May 1st due to an interview with a family in Cleveland on Wednesday. My brother took the morning off to help me pack up my car (OH MY did I have a lot of belongings!) and to have breakfast with me. Spending my days off with he and his wife really helped our relationship. He is has always been the vinegar to my oil. For him to tell me over and over how much he enjoyed me being so close really meant a lot to me!!

  The 9 hour drive home gave me plenty of time to plan an agenda for the night. Rolled into Canton around 4, got a pedicure at 4:30, dinner with my parents at 5:30, surprised all of the kids between 7 and 8.  FYI this is completely normal for me and wouldn't have done it any other way.

  Before my pedicure I ran to the party store to get birthday balloons for Chica's 5th birthday. While searching the wall for the Justin Bieber balloon a woman leans over saying "Tara! Is that you?!" A customer from Taggarts, go figure! It was such a surprise and nice to catch up for a few minutes.

  I surprised the 5 boys with ice cream at Menchies then over to see the other 3. I called my 8yr old BFF as soon as I pulled in the neighborhood telling her I wasn't going to make it home for her First Communion which was that weekend. Little did she know I was surprised by her brother in the driveway. Seeing the look on their faces was the best! And naturally the girls were glued to me reassuring themselves I wasn't leaving again.

  Though no one, other than my parents and a few friends, knew exacting when I was coming home it was great being able to surprise friends and family! The one that was the best was from my Godmom and Godsister. My Godmom was making dinner while her 5yr old Grandson was sitting in the hall spinning around on the floor outside talking to his mom. After he gave me the biggest hug and said "Grandma, Tara Annie is here." She was confused until she turned around to see me standing there, to which my Godsister came running too. I stopped over just in time for dinner, SCORE!

I still had keys to JAK's apartment and boy did she get a surprise! I received a phone call her from her later that night. 

"You scared the hell out of me! I thought there was a burglar then I thought 'Wait, No! Tara is back in Ohio and she still has a key - JAK"

End Of A Chapter

My last week couple weeks in South Carolina were busy ones! Having to pack everything up in my room at the house, and also things at my brother's house became a little stressful. I was a little uncertain when exactly my last day was would put  a little wrench into my plans. The dad flew down to the Bahamas for a golf tournament for the weekend, leaving mom, boys and myself at home. All was good and fun!

  Saturday I was telling the mom about a random package that was delivered but put by the trash cans (in the back of the house). We were both super confused who would leave it there. Well, Saturday night around 2AM the power went out completely out of the blue. No storm, no accident, nothing. The alarm was beeping which all I could think about is it waking the boys up. The mom has always said to wake her up if I needed anything or something was wrong with the boys. Well I had to wake her up because I didn't know the alarm code. We both were so confused as to why the power was out and instantly sweating because the AC was out. I went to bed thinking "what if the power isn't back on at 8 when the boys get up? I won't be able to make anything for breakfast. I won't be able to get the car out of the garage or even if I did, I couldn't get it out of the driveway because the gate wouldn't open. This is all going to be a nightmare. JUST MY LUCK!" Well, the mom went to bed thinking "Whoever dropped that package off in the back cut the power and is going to break into the house and kidnap us!"  Needless to say the power went back on 2 hours later and the boys slept through the whole thing. Lucky them!

  The last day wasn't anything special. I took the boys to the zoo, out to lunch and then for cupcake treats. After all it was my last day, lets give them sugar!! We swam later that night after dinner and everything was as normal as could be. Gave the boys big hugs goodnight, closed the door, grabbed my bags and I was gone. I did give the new nanny the rundown for the week to come and told her to call me with any questions or concerns. Yep, said it right in front of the parents!!!! Didn't get a hug goodbye from anyone, just a "Thanks. Have a safe drive." Now thinking back if could have been SOOO much worse! Pulling out of their driveway there was no tears just a lot of screaming and bad words on how rude people could be!

Run. Mudd. Color. Beer.

My friends last year traveled to Pennsylvania last year to run a 5k obstacle course that has become known to so many. Warrior Dash


  I woke up one morning from an email from my practicum mom (Shawn was my Friday mom when I was in nanny school.) suggesting that it would be something I would love and that I should run in with she and her small group of friends. Can't predict where I will be in August, but doing something like this with Shawn we are bound to have a good time! I registered as soon as I woke up and texted her that we were on for August 25th, which then turned into a lot of texting with laughter included. I talked JAK and my cousin into running it with me. It should be a muddy mess. Can't wait!

 A few months later JAK told me about a 5k in Cleveland, The Color Run. You wear all white and at each mile marker they shoot color at you. Sure why not, sign me up. I will do anything fun.

Needless to say I need to get my butt running so I don't hold my teams up. Bribing me with a beer at the finish line should do the trick.

The Sky Is Falling

Easter was a great time here! I took the boys to a nearby town for their annual Egg Drop. There was all sorts of activities for the kids, music, face painting, and the Easter bunny was there to get your picture taken with. KP wanted to leave the second we got there, he is not one for crowds. HB was all about it! There was a huge soccer field blocked off with eggs all over it. Then we stood and waiting for the helicopter to come and drop HUNDREDS of eggs all over the place. I might have been a little more excited then the boys! They blew the horn and we ran as fast as we could to fill up their baskets. Each of them got maybe 20 eggs, but with the mass amount of kids, some didn't get any. I was so proud of KP (who doesn't like to share) he gave 2 of his eggs to a little boy who didn't have any. Proud nanny moment!

Nighty Night

After the one occasion we had when KP took his diaper off in the morning, every night we put "dream tape" on the diapers. It was a small battle to get it on and started out as their "Super Hero" belts but then turned into "dream tape" giving them good dreams at night. They have come to love their tape and look forward to putting it on at night. Leave it to their mom to find duck tape in so many different colors and prints.