A Downton Day

I LOVE Downton Abbey!  That must first be understood.  I have avidly followed the show as have all three of my roommates.  The second thing you must understand is that I babysit for five different families.  Keeping all my families straight has become a bit of a game between my roommates and me.  So some of the homes have a nickname.  Yesterday I was at "Downton Abbey."  I spent the day in a modest home in Wenham, MA with two young boys.  Classical musical played all day in the background, while I did laundry, straightened up the living room, kitchen, bedrooms and the den so that when the cleaning ladies arrived, they would be able to go right to cleaning (instead of spending half their time clearing off surfaces).  I reorganized some of the books in the den and had at least three cups of tea.  I did the dishes, folded the towels, served the boys a snack, made them lunch:  I played "Mumsy" for the day.  So why do we call this house "Downton?"  Merely because the fabulous woman I work for is a complete anglophile, drinks tea all day, surrounds herself with pretty things, has hired help for a myriad of tasks, and has two beautiful children who are dearly loved.  She really is no different from many of the moms on Boston's north shore.  Sometimes I have "Downton Days" with "mom" at home and no children for miles.  On those days we rearrange furniture, she picks out paint colors (the painters were coming the next day), I reorganize her closets and shelves so they look less cluttered; all the while sipping tea and she tells me of her adventures to Italy and Paris when she was my age and I realize how much I long to have a life like hers.

This world is set apart.  I am a part of it but I do not belong to it.  I have never lived like this and I may never be able to in the years to come.  She is such a fancy woman and yet in many ways just lives a simple life; the day to day existence of a mom.  I left yesterday having spent 8.5 hours in that house but it was delightful to know that I had really helped her by accomplishing those tasks.  Women like me are meant to help people, even in the little things like doing laundry and reorganizing the den.  Women like Mary Crawly of Downton Abbey are meant to help people by giving them employment.  Yes, I am rewarded monetarily for my work but I do it for more than that.  I want to help.  I know it isn't the same as helping a homeless person get off the streets or making sure a starving child get a good meal and clean water but still, I am helping.  My "Mary" is a delightful woman.  She is always interested in me and what is going on in my life.  She is constantly giving me gifts and telling me how much it means to her that I am in her life and more importantly, in the lives of her boys.  Will they remember me when they grow up? And if they remember me, I wonder how?  As the babysitter that gave them airplane rides into bed at night (over and over again) and made "the best chocolate chip cookies in the world" or as the woman who always came to have a cup of tea with mama, fold laundry, and pick up the toys.  No matter how I am remembered by them, they will always be a part of me.  A part of my life - my "Downton Days."