It's amazing to think that we have already completed one year of having a nanny. That extra person that helps keep the kids clean, fed, entertained, learning Spanish, and also manages to do a little laundry and wash the dishes. We went back and forth on the nanny versus daycare dilemma and ultimately our desire for the kids to learn another language really outweighed everything else. The nanny has the added bonus of not having to label all their stuff and pack them up every morning. I'm not sure how exactly that would have fit into the schedule... We had a great year with G. No regrets. She quit the Friday before MLK Day (sorry to keep you in the dark so long!).
Amazingly, our new nanny started on Tuesday after MLK Day. She would have started Monday, except that D and I had the day off. We didn't miss a single beat! A miracle of miracles. G had been sick in December of last year and while she was out, we had two different nannies come help out. We thought it was great because we had some backup caregivers for the future in case G got sick or had to take her daughter to the dentist, whatever the case may be. They got to know the kids and our house. Little did we know we'd be in the market a few weeks later for a replacement for G. We happened to learn that one of our backups from December, M, was unhappy with her job.
So, on Thursday, I had a strange conversation with G. There were a couple things that I needed to ask her to be more careful about (like cleaning the sippy cups because a couple still had black stuff in them--ew), which I did. She responded by asking if we could be home 15-30 minutes earlier every day and also wanted me to put the kids into various classes and buy them more things because she said they're bored. (?!) I told her that they had plenty of stuff and that if she didn't know what to do with them, I could come up with a list of activities for her to do with them, which I did. I also contacted M and asked her if she would be interested in a full time job. I just sensed that G was going to quit. Mommy instincts, I suppose.
Sure enough, on Friday, she decided to go back to her old job at the school. And immediately. I went back and forth between being annoyed that she didn't give more notice and feeling that if she had already checked out, I probably didn't want her taking care of the kids, anyway. And then when M started right away, it just worked out well for everyone. We left it all on good terms and while it was a good year, I think everyone is better off.
We're looking forward to the next season and our new relationship. There will inevitably be some ups and downs, but so far it's been great, for which we are incredibly grateful.
4 comments:
I'm glad to hear you passed through that transition so smoothly! Whenever I'm rushing to bundle Lilja up in the mornings, I wish we had a nanny instead of having to haul her to daycare... but for the most part we're happy with the care she gets. Sounds like your kiddos are happy with their new nanny too? :)
Kiddos seem to be very happy. Since they can't talk, we don't know for sure, but as far as we can tell, they made the adjustment without a hitch. She had worked for us for two weeks in December, but even then they seemed to not be too concerned. They have a harder time when we leave them at the nursery at church, so I think there's something very comforting about being at home that if someone else is there it doesn't bother them as much. Or, they just sense that she's a loving, sweet person. If only we could read their brains! Although, then again...
Sounds good. It makes sense that being at home would help them adjust to changes in caregiver. I'm sure having each other is a comfort too - even if they're not interacting that much yet, I'm sure they know their sibling is there.
So glad things were worked out so quickly!
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