I start back to work in a few days. Which means Bimmer is going to have the run of the house. She's in charge.
Just don't tell the nanny.
As I mentioned HERE, I finally got a job and am headed back to the daily grind. Since our daycare still has Bimmer waitlisted for awhile longer, we decided a nanny was the way to go. I didn't have the first clue about how to find someone reliable and trustworthy. Not to mention someone good enough for Bimmer to hang out with for 9 hours a day. That someone would have to be very special.
So, we utilized www.care.com, which had come recommended by a few people in other cities who had success with it. My initial search was based solely on the photos the women had posted. What can I say... you gotta start somewhere. From there, I narrowed it down by people within a 10 mile radius from our house, those with some college under their belt, and those who were available full-time. From there, I started an email campaign.
Of all the emails I sent, we had 4 that wrote back that seemed legitimate enough for me to move forward. Those who took days to write me back got nixed. And the one girl who wrote me saying she "hated" the family she was currently working for? Ha... not so much. Puff and I made a list of questions and we were armed and ready to interview!
KK was the first girl and she was really sweet. She had been born in Africa and raised in Ireland, so she was a little bit, how should I say it, "out of touch" with a few of the references we made to things. She had been with a previous family for a year and spent her summers working at camps up north. The experience was there. The connection was not. Plus, she was outrageously expensive.
CC was the next girl and from the get go, I liked her. She was open and honest on the phone when we scheduled the interview, letting us know she had 2 other families she was interviewing with. She showed up 10 minutes early and we hit it off right away with silly general banter. It was easy going. She also interacted with Bimmer, which I greatly appreciated. She had been with her last family for 6 years and was going back to school this semester. Before she left, I had a good feeling. I told her out-right that we really liked her and she told us that we were her favorite prospective family. She left a good taste in my mouth.
EE was our next interview and she rubbed me wrong right away. After CC had been so awesome, meeting EE two hours later was a let down. Especially since she didn't text me until 5 minutes after she was already late and then was another 10 minutes late. She was a shy girl, who had been homeschooled. She didn't have much experience outside of family and occasional babysitting jobs. When she kept using terms like "God led me to this" and such, I knew she wasn't the right fit. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but how quickly we forget that I have a sign with the word "faggot" on it in my bedroom. (Read about how that story is not meant to be hateful HERE.) She also wanted an insane amount of money. I'm sorry, honey, but you are 22 years old, just out of school, and have no real nanny experience. I am not going to pay you the equivalent of $40,000+ a year.
LL was our last interview, since I canceled BB after she sent me that email about not liking her current family. (Also, BB's email was insanely churchy and I just knew we would offend her.) I really liked LL from the start. She had a degree in early childhood education and she was so sweet and cute. She was just recently engaged and is just looking for a job to kill time before next school year when she will become a teacher. Problem was, most of her experience was with older kids, not babies. And when she made a comment about Bimmer being "good practice" I was a bit concerned. I wouldn't hesitate to leave Bimmer with LL for an evening date night or something, but just not every day, all day. Plus, again, she wanted way more money than her experience warranted.
Did I mention I had already run a background check and called CC's references before we even met with LL? In fact, about 5 minutes after LL left, and Bimmer spit up on me in the front yard talking to our lawn guy, I called CC and offered her the job. She graciously accepted. She was so excited.
And so am I.
We are doing a trial run this week for a few hours while I hit up an appointment. I am finally not losing sleep over going back to work. I am sure that may change as the days inch closer and closer, but for now, I feel like Puff and I made a good decision. We made the best decision.
And even though it is going to rape us financially to have a nanny, we would do anything for Bimmer.
And we always will.
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