For almost 3 years I've had the same part time nanny Sandra. I found her through care.com. We hired a nanny because I do the bookkeeping, payroll, and miscellaneous stuff for our franchise restaurants and I could no longer do those things with a toddler in the house. Having Sandra also allowed me to do errands like grocery shopping without having to tow a kid with me. And every once in a while I could have a few hours of me time which usually meant a haircut, kid-free lunch with girlfriends, or retail therapy. When Sandra started I just found out that I was pregnant with Lucas and so when Lucas was a newborn Sandra was able to watch him while I had one on one time with Caleb. With her around I also was able to keep up with Caleb's various activities without having to bring Lucas and disrupt his nap schedule.
Earlier this year, she approached me to talk about an extended vacation. She wanted to spend the summer with her mom in Peru. Jamie and I also talked about how much longer we would need her help. My work responsibilities have decreased since we only have one restaurant and the assistant manager has taken on more responsibilities. For the upcoming school year, we decided to send Caleb to preschool 5 mornings/week and start Lucas 2 mornings/week. Since I will have two kid-free mornings a week we decided that it wasn't practical to have a part time nanny anymore.
Sandra has been great. She
bonded with Caleb early on and has known Lucas since he was born. She has enriched their lives by teaching them Spanish, taking them to the park and library, and scheduled playdates with other kids. She once told me that in Peru they don't say 'adios' for bye. Instead they say 'ciao' because it's expected that you'll see them again. On her last day she and I got teary eyed saying bye but when she left she said "Ciao". Thank you Sandra for watching over my boys.
