Flywheel Mama

Like all good things, they always come to an end.

We hired a nanny who could take care of our now toddler daughter for a pre-determined timeframe. And our time to part ways has come. But we weren’t ready to part ways since our daughter wouldn’t start daycare for another 7 weeks after our nanny left us.

We chose to keep our older son in preschool so that he can socialize with other kids, but keep our daughter at home until our daughter was older, more aware of the world, and for me to spend a bit more time with her during the first year. We believed that at 18 months old, she’d be more than ready to socialize with other kids her age while getting nurtured 1:1 with a trusted nanny at home.

Thinking back, we really lucked out with our nanny. Because I worked from home, we were flexible about the must-haves and nice-to-haves for a nanny. I expected her to be flexible with her schedule, including working late nights if needed. To our luck, she was adaptable and accommodated our family’s needs.

Although she was flexible, she couldn’t work until 1:30 pm on weekdays, which was fine since we expected her to work 5-6 hours a day. It actually worked well that she stayed past 7 pm to help with dinner and bath time for both kids.

Our nanny was not only hardworking but also continued her studies, with teachers allowing her to study from home on Thursdays and Fridays. She made herself available during those days to help us earlier in the day.

Now that she is graduating from that program and transitioning to a new job in the medical field, she will retire from being a nanny.

So, my search for a temporary nanny for the summer has started. Knowing I won’t be as lucky as last time and that this will be a temporary, part-time role, options are slimmer. However, since it’s summer, students looking for seasonal gigs might be available.

Our must-haves and nice-to-haves for a nanny are:

• Caring and loving: A must-have to nurture and care for my daughter throughout the day.
• Willing to learn: A must-have, showing a growth mindset.
• Willing to listen: A must-have bordering on nice-to-have. For longer engagements, openness to feedback is crucial to avoid drama.
• Going above and beyond: A nice-to-have. Our current nanny helps with light cleaning, food prepping/cooking, and small tasks to help keep us sane.

We are close to finding the right nanny to support our family through the summer.

Keep the momentum going,

Flywheel Mama