A Love Note to Our Nanny
With school ending this week, we're saying goodbye to our nanny. This makes me nervous, because we can't function without her.
It's never an easy thing to entrust your children to a stranger. No one wants to do it. And until now, I had a horrible track record with hiring sitters and nannies. One quit when her boyfriend broke up with her. Another faked a stomach bug for two days and then quit via a Very Long Email in the middle of the week. She was a teacher with a list of glowing references.
But here's the kind of person our current nanny is: a few years ago, I had to work a full day on Halloween and knew I wouldn't be home in time to help my kids change into their costumes. I had deep mother's guilt about this, because Halloween costumes are one of the great perks of parenthood. You get to help your kids become something else. It's creative and magical without the pressure of Santa, the Tooth Fairy, or any of their buddies. We love Halloween.
I gave costume instructions to our nanny and spent my day in a disgruntled huff, wishing I could be home.
When I met up with them that evening, my kids hopped out of the car not only in full costume, but in full makeup as well - one zombie bride and one very green Wicked Witch of the West. She had not only gotten them dressed, but had also taken them for a professional face painting session, too.
Our nanny, by the way, had decked out in a full witch costume herself. She doesn't mess around.
"You all look terrific!" I squealed.
"Take some pictures," she said. "I told them they had to wait for pictures until you saw them first."
Until I saw them first. She did all the work and still saved the most meaningful moment for me. This is one of many things that makes her so special.
She's cared for all of us for years now, quietly holding our lives together as she shuttles the kids to after-school activities, finds my cell phone when I think I've lost it, works late if I work late and never judges me for constantly slacking on the laundry. And, well, housework in general. Wise and resourceful beyond her years, she has a solution for everything. Her name is on all of our emergency contact lists. The kids respect her, trust her and get a steady lesson in patience from having her two year-old boss them around all afternoon. She's one of the best things to happen to us, and she never gets enough credit for it.
So this is my love letter to her, and to all caregivers who offer the greatest piece of mind by loving our kids as much as we do when we can't be with them. There aren't enough words to tell you how much that means.