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Monday, August 20, 2007

 

The one where the nanny didn't quit

(Note: Although Postcards from the Mothership is now live at http://danigirl.ca/blog, I'm continuing to cross-post for a couple of weeks until I get all the kinks out. See the original post at http://danigirl.ca/blog/2007/08/20/the-one-where-the-nanny-didnt-quit/)


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So, it's the nanny's third day today, and she didn't quit yet. I'm so happy! (Amazing how my standards have dropped, isn't it?)

Seriously, though, even beyond her not quitting, I'm thrilled with the new nanny. The boys ask every day whether Jen and Jordan (her one year old son) are coming today. She brings them to the park; she plays games with them; last Friday, she brought them to her house for the afternoon and they did fingerpainting and came home with home-made, car-shaped cookies. She's got Simon on the potty a couple of times a day. She even emptied the clean dishwasher so she could put the lunch dishes in it. Really, I love her!

I'm not the only one who loves her. Friday night at dinnertime, Tristan had just finished telling us all the fun things they did with Jen that day. He asked if she would be coming back the next day, but I told him that Mummy and Daddy don't have to work on Saturdays or Sundays, so we'd get to spend the whole day together as a family. "And besides," I teased him, "would you rather spend the day with us or with Jen?"

He didn't hesitate nearly long enough before answering, "Jen!" In other circumstances, I might have been peeved, but frankly by this point, I'm happy with that answer.

It's still a little awkward having her in our house, though. We're making up rules as we go along, because I hadn't really thought any of this through. I don't know if I should leave a list of suggested lunches for the boys, based on that week's trip to the grocery store, or just let her root through the cupboards and make it up based on what she finds. I'm also not sure whether I should be buying stuff for her to make lunch for herself.

I was also thinking about leaving suggestions for activities, and leaving her our family membership card for the Farm and the Science museum. If it were me, we'd be going to the library, and playgroups, to parks in other neighbourhoods - anything to kill daylight! - but I don't want to overwhelm her. I'm not sure I'd want to be doing a lot of field trips by myself with a 1, 3 and 5 year old!

So, day three and all is well on the daycare front. It's going to nearly break us financially (her pay is barely $100 less a week than Beloved earns) but at least for the next year I'm willing to pay that price. Do you think this is finally the good karma I've earned after more than half a year of dreadful experiences?

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