01 December 2009

I want my Nanny!

I’ve always wanted a nanny but coming to grips with how I feel about our nanny these days, and the things I'm considering to keep her, are a stretch, even for me.

Who wouldn’t want a nanny? As a kid watching Maria Von Trapp to Mary Poppins to Fran Drescher, nannies always seemed like the perfect addition to the picture perfect family. Even years later, as a child-free newlywed, I was enthralled by the family across the street. Cute little twins being ushered to the park by their nanny while their parents went to work or spent time with the older sibling.

Fast-forward 5 years and here I am, happily working away (well, not really working, more like distractedly blogging about my life) while our nanny takes our very rambunctious 2-year old to the park. In an hour, she’ll bring him home, feed him lunch, put him down for a nap. Then, she’ll tidy the house she keeps spotless, despite our penchant for piles of paper and our son’s ever spreading mountain of toys, leaving me free to finish work and even go grab groceries before the post-office hours rush. I work happily, relatively stress free, listening to “Tickle Tickle Little Staaa” fading down the street. Life is good.

But here’s the rub. My son is 2. He’s less than a year away from pre-school. While its part-time, the schedule doesn’t support needing a full-time nanny. Not to mention the fact that with the added cost of pre-school, its not reasonable to have her stay on as full-time. So, I’m wondering… what do I do? After much consideration, I've come up with two options: 1) Keep Junior out of pre-school, potentially dooming to be him a poorly socialized misfit or 2) Get knocked up again, and go back to work too soon, back to pumping in the bathroom stall etc. so she has a reason to stay....
Neither is appealing, but what's a girl to do? I want my nanny!!

2 comments:

Ms. Su said...

What a great blog S! It's about time that all of us who live day in/day out with mommy/nanny guilt have somewhere to come!

How many times have I got the sarcastic comment from a SAHM friend like "Why would a night out be any thrill for you? You have a nanny - you can go out whenever you want." Um - sorry to burst your bubble, doesn't work that way.

And my advice, forget preschool while he's 3. He won't get anything more out of it then he will with his nanny. Rethink the decision when he's 4. My daughter didn't go to preschool until she was 4. And even then it's a hassle because my nanny doesn't drive yet. Had to beg the neighbourhood SAHM's to take pity on me and drive my daughter to/from.

Oh boy, do I have lots to say on this. I love my nanny. I love my life. I will learn to deal with mommy guilt. :)

Sho said...

Thanks for the advice Ms Su, feel free to send me your topic suggestions etc. I really want this to be a place where we can share that stuff!

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