There was a day, not so very long ago that I was chatting with one of my nanny friends before preschool pick up. Enter another mom who's kid was in classes with mine. I introduce the ladies, explaining how I knew each of them to each other. The moment I mentioned that my friend was a nanny, the other mom said "Oh, I have a live in nanny....but I'm a stay at home mom..." And I could tell she was bracing herself for some sort of judgement from me. Yeah, not going to happen.
As a stay at home mama of 2 small kids, I totally get it. Honestly, being a stay at home mom is very hard work, it's a 24-7 job that no one can possibly understand unless they've been through it. It has it's awesome fun milestone moments. But mostly it's a lot of bodily fluids flying at you and cleaning up what you know will surely be dirty again in 13 seconds. It's playing "Find That Smell!" several times a day and praying that smell isn't you. It's trying to reason with tiny tornadoes who will likely pay you no mind. If you are a working mom and you find a nanny who's great with your kids, that's fantastic! And if you are a stay at home mom who has the means to have a nanny, that's fantastic too! Any help any of us moms can get is an amazing thing. So as a stay at home mom, let me tell you why befriending nannies has been a God's send to me!
Fresh Perspective
I'm going to assume one of the very best things about being a nanny(besides molding young minds), is the fact that at the end of the day they get to go home. They get to leave behind the good and bad moments of that day with those kids and have some mind space. And they get to go back the next day rested and refreshed. So many times I've admired the cool calm attitude of my nanny buddies when their charges are having a meltdown like all small kids do. It reminds me that maybe I don't get to leave at the end of the day, but this bad moment WILL end. These kids that are making me so crazy, will at some point go to bed. I'll have just a little bit of time to catch up on my trashy gossip sites or do my nails or do my nails or even maybe sleep. Keeping it real too, the crazy that comes with the many needs of small kids ends so quickly. Thank God.
Creativity
I randomly asked a nanny what she and her kid were doing the next day. "We're just going to visit the firehouse." I was dumbfounded! I had no clue that you could just go do something like that. Bonus was that me and my kids got to go along too. That's not even the tip of the iceberg. These nannies know where all the best story times are, when all the museums are doing free days, and happen to be fantastic about setting up play dates. Perhaps it has something to do with that fresh perspective, but they do their research. No one wants a bored kid, nannies included. While I'm focusing on getting through the day and counting down until my husband gets home, these nannies have a plan on the calendar and they are more than wiling to share useful info.
Play Dates
Speaking of play dates, let's remember how much we adults need to socialize as much as our little ones do. I love my mom friends. How frigging good is it to talk to another mom and realize that your not the only one who's kid is 3 and still only wants to poop in a diaper. It's great, I can talk mom talk all day. But I can also enjoy hearing about the nannies kid free weekend or the upcoming travel plans that would be impossible if kids were involved. Nannies are sorta the best of your kid free friends who would rather die than do something with you and your kids so you can talk to an adult and your mom friends combined.
At the end of the day, anyone who cares for small kids with a smile on their face and a plan gets my respect. Sure nannies are paid to do what they do, but that doesn't make it easy. We're all just trying to make it through the day with the kids we're in charge of. One poopy diaper and tantrum at a time.
No comments:
Post a Comment