I am so frustrated with our nanny search that I am ready to pull my hair out!! See photo demonstration at right.
If you haven’t been following along… Up until last week, we had a wonderful young woman named Angel help care for Lucas two days a week for 5 hours each day and less than a month ago, she gave us her notice. (Saddest. Day. Ever.) She and her husband decided to move to Idaho so that he could go back to school. We were/are genuinely happy for her, supportive of her decision and had hoped that she would find us a replacement. She had previously placed nannies as part of her career and we had every confidence in her abilities.
Angel brought us ONE candidate that seemed like the perfect match, but in the end decided to devote more time to the family she is currently with, a widower and his two daughters. We can’t really blame her for that… they need her more than we do.
It was an interesting interview though. It turns out that she recently discovered that she can’t have children and broke down in tears while we were talking. My heart goes out to anyone that is unable to have children of their own and something inside me knew that she would be perfect with Lucas. This outward display of emotion and honest disclosure was refreshing.
Alas, it wasn’t meant to be…
It was shortly there after that Angel decided “it would be best if I hand over nanny search responsibilities to you. I still have a lot of packing to do and want to make sure that I get it done on time.” Um, are you kidding me? With only days until you are leaving, you drop this all on us? Great! Angel, I know you read this and I’m sorry, but that was super crummy and very disappointing.
Okay, never one to back away from a challenge, I immediately signed up for Sittercity.com on the recommendation of several friends and instantly had an In Box full of applications. Girls that clearly can’t read or comprehend the words LONG TERM AVAILABILITY IS A MUST. We don’t want to be in this situation again in three months.
I have had ten phone interviews in four days and two face-to-face interviews and still no one very promising. Here are some highlights for your amusement:
- One girl is three months pregnant and wants to bring her baby to our home with her once she delivers.
- One girl currently lives in Cleveland! We live in San Diego. She is moving out here, but not until next month.
- Many girls are teachers and are waiting with baited breath for a teaching job offer. PLEASE READ THE AD!
- Others are students and are looking for summer-only work. AGAIN, READ THE AD!
- There has also been a plethora of applications that have been downright illegible, riddled with spelling errors and incoherent sentences. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET VERY FAR WITH ME WITHOUT GOOD GRAMMAR!!
Ugh! This is so much harder than I thought. It’s like trying to find a mate, but WAY worse!!
Maybe it’s a sign. Maybe the universe is trying to tell me to suck it up and be a 40 hour a week Stay At Home Mom. Who needs 10 hours of “me time” anyway?
I DO and I shutter at the thought of giving up those 600 minutes up each week. Nanny Gods, please, please, please, send someone fabulous our way!! Thank you.
The best is yet to be.
This post is for the word game, Word Up, Yo! hosted by Natalie (Mommy of a Monster), Kristin (Taming Insanity) and Liz (a belle, a bean and a chicago dog).
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Sorry you're having a hard time finding a replacement. Good luck. Great use of WOW word.
Wow, I'm sorry you are in this situation, although it seems like you are getting first hand experience at the frustrations of HR departments everywhere. Good luck!
Maybe you should start your own nanny sourcing business. I bet there's a demand for it…
Not a bad idea, KLZ… I am certainly learning a boat load through this process!
Your photo is crackin me up. Maybe because I had my crazy post recently with similar pics. Haha. Good luck in your search. Thanks for dropping by today and checking out three of my posts. You are like super woman. I'm so behind I might just cry. I have a *plethora* of emails to catch up on. You should totally make some cupcakes, even if it's for the heck of it. It'll make ya feel better.
My mom is a nanny, and I would send her right over if she did not live in Tucson and already have a long-term gig. She has become part of her nanny-girl's family. I hope you find someone great like my mom! xo
Ah, my friend…I'm so sorry for what you are going through and that there's nothing I can do to help. I do really like KLZ's idea though…maybe she's on to something 😉
Good luck and keep us posted. I'd kill for 10 hours of me time a week, but you gotta do what you gotta do!
Love the picture, and such a good use of the WOW! So sorry that you are having these struggles, and you DO have to find that perfect someone…..it's your treasure that they are guarding!
I wish that I lived here in SD so I could just pop in whenever u needed a few hours to yourself. You know how much I love spending time with LMW! Until u find your very own Mary Poppins, I'm available!