Thursday, July 18, 2013

Nanny Issues-Finding a Good Fit

Without going into all the details, we've recently had a change in nanny's for Henry.  The past few weeks have been incredibly stressful as we interviewed, hired and transitioned from our old nanny to the new one.  We've had lots of questions as to why (after only 2 months), we were searching for someone new to watch H and I think it all boils down to the first nanny wasn't a good fit.  Honestly, when we interviewed the first time around, we found someone we really, really liked.  We made her an offer but she was also interviewing with another family and choose to work for them instead.  So feeling rushed to get someone before I went back to work, we hired our second choice.  We called references, ran a background check, did a monthly review-all the "right" things to do.  Things were fine for a while and then they weren't.  I felt like I was constantly having to deal with things not being done as we asked and C was starting to dread my phone calls during the work day as they usually had some sort of nanny related issue.  Our parents have listened to me worry over our nanny situation for some time...sorry guys!  It wasn't anything one thing and honestly, the feeling was mutual (and she even brought it up!) so we parted ways last week and thankfully, she stayed until we found someone new.  It's been a new experience for us to have a household employee and learn how to set expectations that were clear (yet trying to be flexible and understanding as she was taking care of our most precious thing, Henry, in our home.  Um, I didn't want to totally peeve her as she could steal our baby and rob us blind).  

So now that we've got 4 days under our belt with our new nanny, I can say that things are SO much better already!  The energy in our home is better and I think it's a much better fit.  The new nanny came prepared with crafts (Yes, crafts for a 5.5 month old.  The fridge is covered with baby paintings already) and has all sorts of daily developmental activities they do together.  As we can only learn from our past, I've been thinking about our last experience and this is what I've learned:

1. Trust my instinct.  We know what's best for our family and need to make sure that comes first.
2.  It has to be a good fit and if it's not (see #1) cut our losses and move on.  I spent a lot of time and energy trying to make our last relationship work and bottom line was it didn't.  Next time, I'll call it sooner and take steps to move on.
3. Don't be afraid to speak up about instructions and expectations up front.  I've created a "House Rules" list that we now use for everyone that watches H.  At the end of the day, Henry (and the dogs and our home) our OUR responsibility and we, as parents, should fully be able to expect our rules and guidelines to be followed.

I'm sure this is just the first of many challenges of being a working mom :).  To those of you who have great help, be thankful and show appreciation!

If you have child-care, what are some things that work for your family?  Any "House Rules" we should add to the list?  

 


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Being a working mama is hard enough without having to worry if little H is being taken care of. We are so lucky to have the sitter we have and it brings me so much peace of mind. I'm glad you guys now have a great fit!