Leaving your newborn with someone is hard. If you’re like me, just the thought was excruciating. Having to go back to work so soon after giving birth isn’t natural or fair. Needless to say, circumstances allowed me to stay at home a bit longer than expected and I was able to spend more time with my precious little one. But that didn’t resolve my anxiety knowing we had to find a nanny for when I did have to go back to work.
The thoughts of day care and a nanny were embedded in my mind long before Stella was born. I don’t know about where you live, but where I live, child care is either super cheap (you get what you pay for) or super expensive (I’m not trying to pay college tuition right now). Neither option would work for me. I looked at sites like care.com but it didn’t resonate with me. I wanted to find someone who was local, older, had grown kids, could come to our house and would respect how we want to raise our daughter.
I expressed my concerns with Eric and he was on the same page. He really is the best. As the time drew closer to pick someone, I remembered that our cleaning lady mentioned her sons love their babysitter. We got in touch with her, invited her over and interviewed her. We liked her but I wanted to also meet other people who I felt checked more of the boxes I had in mind. She was great, but she was a little too young and didn’t have any kids of her own. It just wasn’t that perfect puzzle piece for me, but we decided to give it a go. One day, we asked her to come over for a couple of hours so Eric and I could get a few hours to ourselves and let Stella get used to someone else slowly. Plus, we wanted to make sure we weren't being too picky. When we got back, she looked exhausted and Stella didn't take well to her. We kept an open mind that she could be a fill in. We kept looking.
The following week, I went on the resident portal of my complex and saw that someone asked for help with their baby. I replied to the responses and we interviewed one woman, Susana. She lives a couple of buildings away, she’s a grandmother, she’s Ecuadorian, which means she will teach Stella Spanish - bonus, she is super sweet and incredibly respectful. I felt comfortable with her immediately. Stella took to her right away too. I was suddenly excited to see where this would go. A few days later she was already texting me asking about the baby and reading articles I was sending to her.
I wanted to make the transition of my going back to work smooth for everyone - me, Eric, Stella and Susana - so I had her start well before that would happen. At first, I just hired her 1-2 times a week for 2-3 hours max. I was always home and used that time to do “me” things like exercise, shop, cook, clean or sleep. It was also a great opportunity to show her my breast milk stash and how to prepare it. We continued like that for about a month until one night Eric wanted to go to a going away party for a few good friends. We asked Susana to come at 8 pm until about 12 am to come and stay with the baby. It was our first night out and although I had my hand on my phone the whole time, there was nothing to worry about and Stella was fine.
5 months later and Susana is so much more to us than just a nanny. She is part of our family. We look forward to seeing her and coming to take care of Stella. She is absolutely the BEST nanny we could ask for. When she comes over, Stella gets so excited and that makes my heart melt. Susana ADORES Stella and she shows it every single day. When she isn't with Stella, she is texting and asking how she is doing. She also makes sure that I am okay too, which no one really does. She knows that some days are harder than others and when I express that to her, she never forgets and always shows us how much she really cares for the three of us. We are blessed to have found her.
Susana, if you're reading this, te queremos mucho! You are amazing and thank you for all that you do. <3
Bình luận