Nanny Love
Friday, July 6, 2012 at 12:29AM
Two weeks ago on a normal Tuesday, I received terrible news from our nanny. She couldn’t work for us any longer. I don’t know why but I for some reason I never expected this. I just assumed things would stay the same until we needed to change them, not the other way around. My heart dropped – I could feel the tears coming as I thought of the love that shines in my daughter’s eyes when she sees our nanny and is with her. How would we find that again? She’s an amazing teacher. My daughter can speak/understand Spanish just from being around her 8 hours a week. Not only that, but our nanny is a big help around the house. She is always helping tidy up when our daughter sleeps.
Her reasoning made sense. She needed full time on Tuesdays/Thursdays. We were only part time. I had recently enrolled Elle in nursery school on Mondays and Wednesdays so I could have more time to work and so she could be around other kids. This put us between a rock and a hard place financially. There’s no way we could afford to have Elle in daycare and a full time nanny on two of the other days. Not only that, but I didn’t decide to work from home so I could take care of Elle to have someone else take care of her four days a week.
As my nanny told me this news, my heart broke. It was just the week before I saw Elle pull her in close for a hug and our nanny gave her a loving hug back and said “ah I love you.” I couldn’t let her go. It was so sad. I could tell she was upset and so was I. I saw her wipe away tears and as soon as I made it to my office I let the tears flow. I was shocked by the amount of love I felt for our nanny in just the year that she had been with us. Her kindness, trustworthiness, love that she shows Elle, untiring help around the house and so much more made her irreplaceable in my mind. We had to keep her.
I pulled Elle from nursery school and our nanny is now working for us full-time two days a week. It is more money than I’d like to be spending but I’m working to find another family with a child around Elle’s age that is interested in a nanny share where our nanny will take care of them both and we can split the cost. This will give Elle a playmate and help with my budget. Wish me luck!
Reader Comments (1)
Jennifer, it's so sweet to see how much you appreciate your nanny! I, myself, have been a full-time nanny for 2 1/2 years, and I am extremely connected with the family for which I work. Our families even go on vacation together! It sounds like you've worked out a great compromise, and I'm sure your nanny feels appreciated, and that is key for someone who is so close to your daughter!
Good luck with the nanny sharing, too... it sounds like a great idea!