The Nanny Diaries

For me, one of the hardest things about being a working mom is dealing with childcare. I've felt more settled about it since we switched from a daycare center to a nanny, but any time we lose a nanny, the panic sets in all over again.

Overall, we've been very lucky with our nannies. Our first nanny really did spoil us for those to come, though. She was highly educated (actually, she was more educated than I am), hugely competent, completely responsible, and just absolutely wonderful. I didn't give a second thought to leaving the girls with her.

Then came N, the seemingly awesome nanny who disappeared into thin air just a few short months after she started.

Then there was K, who is still with us for a short time longer. The girls warmed up to her really quickly (this was just on the heels of the disaster with N), and moms at school rave about her.

So we've done good so far. But when K informed me that she was leaving, I was faced with one of my least-favorite jobs in the entire world: looking for a new nanny. This time, we're only hiring a summer nanny. Ella starts full-time school in the fall, and the current plan is to find a new home daycare nearby for Sadie. (The trick is actually FINDING and AFFORDING that daycare, but I can only worry about one thing at a time.) Fortunately, there were tons of qualified college students and teachers looking for a part-time summer job, so I had lots of candidates to choose from. Unfortunately, I think I might have inadvertantly pissed one (or more) of them off.

For any interested parties out there, I present you with The Nanny Diaries:

Nanny #1: School teacher, teaches art to pre-k through 8th grade. She seemed outstanding but had a commitment for a couple days in June that just seemed to hard to work around.

Nanny #2: Very lovely student at a local college with nanny experience. However, she was pretty shy and nervous, and I wasn't sure we completely clicked. Plus, the girls (especially Ella) might steamroll right over someone like that.

Nanny #3: Another teacher, currently relocating to our area and looking for a full-time teaching job in the fall. Very enthusastic. Lots of experience with kids our girls' ages.

Nanny #4: Told me she wasn't a morning person and also called herself a "very messy human." Seemed perplexed when I said I didn't want the girls watching much TV and wasn't sure what else they might do in the morning when she first arrived.

Nanny #5: Very nice girl who I almost stood up because I completely spaced. Yes, I'm a flake. I'm also just doing way too many things at once on any given day. Has a sister Ella's age. Is a college student.

Anyhow, I was faced with a new and unusual problem. When I first interviewed L, she was pretty much the most oustanding person I talked to. Okay--she was actually the ONLY person I even interviewed. With K, it was a similar thing. I interviewed a few people, but she was clearly the best candidate.

This time around, I found myself faced with four women who would all probably do a fabulous job. Plus, I liked them all. How do you tell someone that they rocked the interview but not quite as hard as the next person? I thought that having them meet the girls would help, but Ella kept changing her mind every five seconds and really wanted Nanny #4 because she likes princesses. Very helpful, as I've heard that a nanny's affinity for princesses directly correlates to their responsibility and trustworthiness. Plus, Dean and I pretty much eliminated Nanny #4 immediately.

At the end, it came down to Nanny #1 versus Nanny #3, and we chose Nanny #3 (to be known hereafter as "N") simply because she didn't have the commitments that Nanny #1 had (which basically amounted to two days of work, but we've already taken enough time off work this year for nanny-related days off).

I am pretty sure I completely pissed off Nanny #1 when I told her that we'd given it to someone else. I tried very hard to take the right tone, but I apparently pissed her off all the same, given the snippy e-mail she sent in return. Crap. I hate it when people are mad at me--even people I don't really know.

Let's all cross our fingers that we made the right choice. All of N's references just absolutely raved about her, from the principal at the school she worked at this past year, to the people she has babysat for, to teaching coworkers of hers. I hope I made the right call.

I can't wait until my kids are in school full-time and I can stop worrying about who they're spending their days with and whether I'm crippling them emotionally by not being home every second of the day.