I’m currently going through that awful back-to-work-after-mat-leave stage where you feel like you’re spinning a thousand plates and trying to do a million things but not doing any of them very well. There is so much pressure to be a good mum/partner/daughter/employee/friend and I have days when I worry that one of those plates will topple and everything will come crashing down. So Rich and I recently took the step of deciding to hire a nanny for one day a week.
The situation came about because I was hoping to still be breastfeeding at this stage. The plan was for the nanny to look after Jenson at our house every Friday and for me to carry on feeding him throughout the day (I’m lucky in that I can work from home). However if you read my post a couple of weeks back you’ll know that he’s now solely bottle-fed (best laid plans and all that).
The nanny was recommended to us by a friend of a friend, and the first time I met her she probably thought I was the most disorganised person in the world. I turned up late to the cafe, bedraggled, with a bedraggled Lyra and screamy Jenson (we had been sheltering from torrential rain under a tree as I had forgotten my brolly). She calmly took Jenson off my hands and started chatting to Lyra about fairy cakes. I checked her CRB and first aid documents and have since got references for her from the two other mums that she nannies for.
So she starts on Friday. Wish us all luck! Of course the title of this post is very tongue in cheek and I don’t expect Jenson’s nanny to transform our lives, however I did think it would make for an interesting topic as I don’t know anyone else that has a nanny.
Do YOU have a nanny? How much autonomy do you give them?
Any tips on helping with transitioning Jenson (and the rest of the family!) to the new nanny would also be gratefully received!
Morning Lisa! I did have a nanny, after a disastrous au pair experiment (she either stayed in her room or smoked in the garden…) and she was lovely! My twin brothers arrived bang on when I started school, and Beth just smoothed everything out. She would do the pick up and drop off, and having her around made sure nobody felt left out or pushed to the side. I don’t remember too much about her as we only had her for a year before she went to uni (I think??) but I remember rides in her little red car, the name of her dog (Petra) and her amazing smile (“Beth is 24 and has no fillings Lucy, no fillings!” She was my mum’s dental health idol 😂).
Really hope this lovely nanny slots into your family just like Beth did.
Funny story though…When we were on our holiday recently another mum overheard me say Nanny and said oh how clever to bring yours away with you… I had to be like this kind of Nanny comes with a Grandad!!
Lucy S thanks for making an apprehensive mama slightly less apprehensive! Fingers crossed our nanny will be as lovely as yours was.
Giggling at ‘This Nanny comes with a Grandad’! x
Hi Lisa, I’m lucky enough to live in a country where having a nanny is a cost-effective child care option for us. And she is great! I was apprehensive at first – would she be as careful with my baby as we would be, would she fit in with our family etc – but we’ve all loved having her with us. Being far away from family I have found it so reassuring to have someone else who I can discuss my boy’s development with, who knows him as we well as, I imagine, grandparents/aunties would! Now that he is talking I love hearing him chattering away to her when I’m in the house. I’ll admit I’ve had moments of jealousy when my son’s preferences seem to be daddy first (always), nanny second and mummy third, but I take that as a sign of how happy he is being looked after her.
She joined us when my son was about six months old and he’s now 19 months, and as we are starting to prepare to move it’ll be time to say good bye soon. It makes me emotional even thinking about it!!
I’m not sure about tips for helping Jenson settle in with her, I think my boy was young enough to go with the flow! But for you, I would recommend finding a reason to get out of the house and leaving her to it fairly early on, rather than hovering near by, so you can reassure yourself that all is well when you come home again.
Good luck!
This is exactly what I needed to hear, thanks Danielle.
Jenson’s also six months old however he has started to cry whilst being held by an unfamiliar face so I hope he is able to adapt to her quickly. Time will tell!
Brill tip…I will bear this in mind on Friday. x
We had nannies growing up, my parents both worked away a lot and long hours.
It worked brilliantly, we are still in contact with some of them (25+ years later) and it would be my first choice of childcare if I were intending to go back to work any time soon. I think the opportunity to have that sort of one on one bond in an environment children are comfortable with is really valuable, and I would have no hesitation in recommending it.
I hope it all works out as well for you as it did for us.
Brilliant to hear, thank you Sara! x
I had a nanny when I was young and we still meet up every few months. Her sister was also a nanny and the first girl she looked after became my best friend! My mum says it’s the best thing she ever did and people always say how lovely it is that we’re all still in touch. It’s like having an extended family (although that does mean twice as many embarrassing stories about my childhood antics 🙈)
Things have changed though in terms of hiring – my mum just put an ad in the local paper…! No CRB checks or anything… It’s quite worrying when you think about it but all turned out fine!
Love this story Jo G.
Our nanny was saying how some of the kids she has nannied for previously were flower girls at her wedding so it bodes well.
As for the local paper…I’m not even sure what our local paper is called these days! X