Post by sweetptater on Oct 17, 2018 13:42:39 GMT -5
I'm going to have to break down and hire a nanny. There's no way I can keep going on with my full time job and kids school/activities while H is OOT most nights during the week and now a lot of weekends. I finally realized it was over this Monday when DD's gymnastics instructor pulled us aside to tell us that she wants to move her to the next level, which only meets on Mondays or Wednesdays at 4:30. When I'm still at work. Of course she told us this in front of DD, who is now so excited she can hardly stand it.
So long story short - where do I find this mystical unicorn nanny that will be a perfect fit to our family and wonderful to my kids and relieve pounds and pounds of stress in my life? I should have done this a long time ago, but I've been putting it off because I'm paranoid of a stranger watching my kids (though I do use random babysitters?) How do I know my kids will be safe? How do I know the nanny will be trustworthy? Deep breaths.
2chatter, to self soothe, I need cheese especially the really good artisan kind like parmesan or cheese ball and the requisite crackers. Other self soothe are wine and brownies. Which I guess would be more for dessert.
I feel like chili and cornbread needs some fruit and vegetables. So fruit salad? Cut veggies and dip but those are not really soothing to me like cheese is.
sweetptater , I don't know as I manage and hire people for my job, so hiring and managing someone else was not on my priority list.
I do all afterschool activities according to my schedule, so personally I would look for a class or a gym that has a 6pm or Saturdays.
But for a nanny, I feel like at least with their ages 7 and 6, that they can report back a lot. Do a background check. Our babysitters are friends or neighbor's older children. But they can't drive. I feel like a college student could be a good fit, but you would have to work around their ever changing class schedule.
Could you do guys sweatpants? They are way more generous in legs.
mommyatty - will avoid kale penis totally! But genius - I will do the cake cornbread (Jiffy, vanilla cake mix, can of creamed corn). So good!
Since you guys are on a roll - nibbles for before chili? One of my aunts is crazy. Like nuts. And weird. And says whatever pops into her head. And a multimillionaire who acts broke - like she appeared at my house to ask for my mom’s bed after scoping out my mom’s condo. She gave me a garage sale stroller with a hole in the seat for DD for her birthday one year. I will need snacks to either keep my mouth full so I don’t say anything or to self soothe. Or both.
I’ve been wearing one pair of DH’s lounge pants and I feel like a manatee - and I trip on them.
For our nanny, I stressed out about it for weeks. I halfway looked at a variety of websites. I complained a lot. I logged on to NextDoor and a HS Senior has posted that she was looking. I immediately replied and she met the kids and I. It was great. She graduated and suggested our manny for this year. Also great. He is even through DD11’s absolute worst WORST drama. She hated that about him but I rather love it.
Local community colleges often have lots of kids looking.
Post by greenmonkey1 on Oct 17, 2018 17:32:33 GMT -5
sweetptater If you plan to check with colleges, he student services office could point you towards how to look at their specific school (i.e. post through career center, go directly to the department, etc.). I would recommend looking at graduate and undergraduate programs. Grad students in my experience usually have less seat time so their schedule is more open. A friend of mine nannied through graduate school and it really was a great situation for her and for the family. The kiddo for whom she nannied is now a college student and was in her wedding. It's really sweet.
We have Adirondack chairs around our fire pit and I love them! Ours are plastic ones from Target, and they were cheap but so awesome. And I covet this table. The Outdoor Puerto Acacia Wood 3-piece Picnic Dining Set by Christopher Knight On Overstock. (Which you apparently can’t link directly to because Overstock is stupid.)
I need an emergency food stash at my office that can replace lunch in a pinch. I am trying to challenge myself not to eat out for a month, so I need something at my desk for those days I forget to grab it.
I second Adirondack chairs for a fire pit. They are super comfy and have a nice wide arm for a drink. Ours are also plastic from Academy. They have nice wooden ones but they are 100+ each.
We have Adirondack chairs around our fire pit and I love them! Ours are plastic ones from Target, and they were cheap but so awesome. And I covet this table. The Outdoor Puerto Acacia Wood 3-piece Picnic Dining Set by Christopher Knight On Overstock. (Which you apparently can’t link directly to because Overstock is stupid.)
I have to do the measurements around the pit. I feel like it is small for the foot print of an Adirondack. But that is what my DH wants...
I won’t do Adirondack chairs around a fire pit as kids struggle with them. DS too enthusiastically tried to get out of one, slammed headfirst into a windowsill and required stitches. A girl camping with DD did the same and burned her hands on the edge of the fire. DS has a buddy with his same scar - same chair, same fall. I would do foldable chairs so they are easy to put away - ours are wrought iron look from Target.
So yeah, maybe I do fall somewhere on the stricter continuum of parents. Ha.
For our nanny, I stressed out about it for weeks. I halfway looked at a variety of websites. I complained a lot. I logged on to NextDoor and a HS Senior has posted that she was looking. I immediately replied and she met the kids and I. It was great. She graduated and suggested our manny for this year. Also great. He is even through DD11’s absolute worst WORST drama. She hated that about him but I rather love it.
Local community colleges often have lots of kids looking.
The first part of your response is where I'm at, the second part is what I'm hoping happens! I can't keep stressing about this.
Post by sweetptater on Oct 18, 2018 7:52:48 GMT -5
waverly, I agree about the kids reporting back. That's why I can't figure out why I have such a hangup with this. I think some of it is mom guilt. I feel like I should be crushing this (work! parenting! house! life!) and I'm..........not.
sweetptater- I think on this board especially and even more so with a traveling spouse our motto is outsource everything. Cleaning, yard work, laundry, groceries, after school nanny. We literally don’t have time in the day to do it all and it all falls to us when a spouse is gone.
Speaking of outsourcing —- Unexpected but - grocery delivery/pick up sucks near us, so DH volunteered to be the shopper. He struggles a little with DD’s dietary restrictions and reading labels but he has been NAILING it. He is now packing his lunches, every week he does something that really effs me up and also makes me laugh at how oblivious he is (this week - two packs of pork chops - one is thick cut and the other is thin - so I had to change the menu to crock pot them). In any case I am relieved to have a solution. It also frees me up to go to the stores with only a handful of items and not stress out about the big grocery store shopping trip looming.
Also - considering biting the bullet and buying a Yeti cooler or similar - and giant ice packs. So if I am across town I can pick up meat and run around for a couple of hours before putting it in the refrigerator. I’m not comfortable with the bags they sell at the grocery store when it comes to meat. Anybody do something like this?
Post by supertrooper1 on Oct 18, 2018 9:21:14 GMT -5
2chatter, I quite often take a cooler and ice packs with me. I'm 30 minutes from shopping, so if I need to go to Costco and the grocery store, I take ice packs with me for all of my perishables. DH gets ice packs with his medicine that is mailed so I use those and a big or small cooler, depending on what all I'm buying.
I don’t 2chatter. But back in my high school days I worked at the largest grocery store in the area and people would drive an hour to it and bring their coolers. Maybe it was their monthly stock up.
When I lived in Australia I would go down the mountain to the stores and spend half a day shopping - I used a cooler. Thinking about this, I realize it is DH being paranoid about this that has stopped me here. I’m doing it! Pilot program this weekend with our existing cooler. It’s hardly hot here at the moment.
Post by sweetptater on Oct 18, 2018 12:39:40 GMT -5
I was just thinking about this when I was loading my car after my Costco trip at lunch today - I need to put a cooler in the back so that I can put all of my refrigerated/frozen stuff in there. Of course I'm in MI, so I won't even need that soon.
Does the darker dress work with the boys shirts? I ordered a long dress with the hopes we can maybe have more than just close up pics, but I’m not sure how I feel about it.
Post by ilovelucyvv on Oct 19, 2018 14:32:19 GMT -5
I like it k3am, although I also liked the more matchy-matchy outfits you and your DD had originally-- but with the cast I understand why you would want to cover your leg if possible.
Post by librarychica on Oct 19, 2018 20:46:10 GMT -5
sunbutter. I live in the land of rust so I like stackable chairs so I can pull them out of the elements. For extra seating on our patio we have something like the below. I love you yard and fire pit, btw. I’ve also seen some pretty wood and fabric sling chairs around, but I have no specific recommendations for those. I’ve considered buying some though.