Valentines Day - Grooveshark Dance Party Playlist

I’m not a big fan of Valentines Day. I want flowers and chocolate every day, so supporting Valentines Day seems counter to that cause. With a nanny though, every holiday is an excuse for crafts and learning something.

The plan for this year: colouring cards for the family, learning which shape is a heart, and a dance party at family dinner on Sunday. K’s a big dance party fan. Currently, he’s obsessed with Sugar Sugar by The Archies so its on repeat on both my and Dear A’s mp3 players.

I’m including the short Grooveshark playlist (for a 2 year olds attention span) for you after the jump:

Friday FAQ - Where are you?

No, that's not the question I'm going to answer. Its a call to you, dear readers (and I know its mostly family and friends right now, but still.) Please send me your questions. Otherwise Fridays are going to be really, really boring! I've got a panel of experts lined up and waiting:

• the owner of a full-service nanny agency
• a payroll specialist
• a family doctor
• a financial planner

Post your questions in the comments below or email me at shortysho{at}hotmail.com

Since I don't have a question to answer, and I didn't blog yesterday, I thought I'd add a post-script to a topic I mentioned this week. I've been worried, ever since our Dear A won 20,000 Air Miles, about having to deal with additional vacation requests. (Click here for the background) Well, a request came, but not from Dear A.

Hump Day Distraction - CAM Smarty Chair

Let me state, right off the bat – I am not getting paid to say this. I’m putting it out there because whenever we unpack the CAM Smarty, people ask about it.

Before a trip to Europe, and after an unfortunate incident where our Bumbo was launched off the roof of the car, I found this booster chair online.

The CAM Smarty is light, folds down really, really, flat and works on pretty much every chair you’ll encounter.

Good News for the Nanny Guilt?

Survey results highlighted in a press release issued yesterday indicate that,

"children with a nanny are less plugged into computers, iPods and video games than the national trend." 

Yay! I'm all over these results, totally happy to accept this tidbit against my flood tide of nanny guilt. Then, the sceptic, communications professional in me has a few rebellious thoughts:

• The "national trend"refers to the USA, so maybe it doesn't pertain to Canada? Nah, close enough, I can swallow that one.
• The survey was conducted by Nannies4hire.com an online database services that match families with caregivers. The survey results kind of help sell their service.... Ok, well I can chalk that up to a "grain of salt."

In the end, I'm still a "Yay!" My personal experience supports their results. K watches more TV with me and his dad than with Dear A. Hmm...that thought has dropped me back into guilt. Great.

Winning the Nanny Lottery

Our nanny, Dear A, has won 20,000 Air Miles.

It was one of those rare moments where you feel like something just went right in the world.  Well, if you’re me, after about 2 hours of Googling "Western Union contests" and phoning around, you’re incredulous that something actually went right in the world. Dear A was super cute and excited about it from the start. Once it checked out I was ecstatic. And panicked.

As you know, I love my nanny. Next month, she’s taking an extra week of holiday to go back home to the Phillipines. My husband and I are happily using holiday time to cover her vacation. But, 20,000 Air Miles? That’s a lot of vacation. My thoughts went into overdrive, “What will we do if she wants more time off?” "Can I really say No?" "I can say No, if its unreasonable." "Right?" "But, I wouldn't say No would I?" "Well, if the grandparents are back,  I can ask them." "Can I ask my brother to take time off? He likes the kid...."

Ground Rules

If you’re reading this, I’ve likely finally sent out a note about my adventure into blogging. I thought I’d better set some ground rules so you (and I) know what we’re getting into.

I WANT MY NANNY!! is a cry for community. I’ve brought out my stories in a hope to find other like-minded, nanny-enabled parent’s out there. I want us to come together to share our stories and find solace in the fact that even with a nanny, life’s not perfect.

The plan is to attempt a post every other day. Note the use of the word ‘attempt’. If you’re reading this you probably get that life happens. Right? Good. I’m also going to share a few feature posts a week:

• Hump Day Distractions – where I’ll share online shopping and “can’t live without it” tidbits.

• Friday FAQ – where I’ll beg the experts I know to answer the questions we have. Guest bloggers will regularly include our Dear A, the nanny, Ms M, our nanny agency owner, plus, if I can convince them, my favorite family doctor, lawyer, financial planner and more.

Ok, that’s it. Feel free to request, criticize, comment and above all praise!

Nanny Guilt 101

Here’s a lesson for anyone considering a nanny. You will have to resolve your Nanny Guilt. While this could be considered a side-bar of Working Mom Guilt*, I think it deserves a place of its own in the guilt universe. There are many aspects of Nanny Guilt that don’t involve work, ranging from the classic, “my child loves the nanny more than they love me,” to more modern concerns “my nanny has more family photos of my kid on her phone than I do on mine.” I think its pretty safe to say, though, that all of it stems from the insecurity that having a nanny makes you less of mommy.

So, how do you resolve Nanny Guilt?