1.19.16 - A Nanny

I've been really stressed out so far this year with everything we are going to try to accomplish. I'm assuming Jack will be incredibly busy with nursing school, which means I will need to earn most of our income on top of finding time to finish my thesis, and that also means I won't be able to watch Clara so often so I had to find childcare for her.

That's really stressful first of all because childcare is expensive, and second because I was nervous about finding someone I thought would be attentive enough to Clara, who is so little. I was anxious about daycare centers because our pediatrician told us Clara is still young enough she will probably get sick several times a season. Then I called a woman who runs in-home care and she claimed I'd have a hard time finding anyone to take Clara because she isn't on a regular nap schedule.

Disheartened, I posted in one of my FB mom groups asking if others had their kids on nap schedules before getting them into daycare. In response, one of the other moms in the group said she is thinking about getting into nannying and that I should PM her. So I did. I asked her about a dozen questions, all of which she answered in ways I found very encouraging. Then she told me how much she used to make nannying and I was disappointed because there is absolutely no way Jack and I could afford her. But she said I should talk it over with him anyway and see what we think, that she wasn't necessarily primarily doing it for the mony but also wanted a playmate for her son, who is almost exactly Clara's age.

So Jack and I talked it over and I worked the numbers and calculated that I could afford to pay her 28% of what she used to make. I figured she wouldn't go for that but I decided to try anyway, since she seemed like a very responsible and caring person and I would love it if Clara could have a nanny instead of going to a center somewhere.

So she and I met and our babies met and we all got along very well, and she easily agreed to the amount I could afford. I couldn't believe it. A few days later we met again, this time with our husbands, and her husband was really nice and easy to talk to, putting me even further at ease. Then, today, Clara and I went to her house and spent about 3 hours with her and her son and Clara seemed to be adapting really easily and happily. It helps that they have all sorts of age-appropriate toys and everything.

So I think we are going to go ahead and do this, and I just can't believe how lucky we are to have found her. Clara is going to be getting better quality care for less than the daycare cost and she will have a little playmate! I feel incredibly lucky.