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The Wonders of Having A Nanny!
I have worked full time throughout three pregnancies and still continue to work full time with three preschoolers at home. My children range in age from 1 to 4 years old. The thought of returning to work after my third child was very daunting. I pleaded with my husband to let me return only part time, feeling very guilty over leaving three small children from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm at a sitters five days a week. I felt someone else was raising my children, not me. My husbands work is unstable and mine is very consistent and well paying. He feared that if I went part time and his business ran into hard times we would have an impossible time making our mortgage payments.
I could not agrue with him but dreaded my upcoming return to the work force. My mother suggested hiring a nanny. I laughed at that suggestion! A nanny right......like we could afford a nanny. My mother, ever persistent, however encouraged me to call a nanny agency anyway. "You never know until you call!" she said. And like all mothers, aren't they always right! So I called. Boy was I shocked!!! It turned out that I could hire a nanny for less then what I would be paying a babysitter. WOW!!!! This was too good to be true. I enquired about hidden costs like the nanny's health care, transportation to Canada (my nanny is Philippino). There were none. Still I was skeptical. If it was so cheap why didn't everyone else have one I thought.
I live in the country two hours from the nearest city. The town we live by has a population of 2500 people. As it turned out the nanny agency I called in the city had placed three other Philippino nannies in my community. I immediately contacted these individuals ...... everyone had nothing but great things to say about their nannies! How wonderful they were with the kids, how unintrusive they were. What great housekeepers. Their only complaint, the processing time, it can take up to 6 months to process a nanny from Kong Kong. Then once they have their work visa they usually go home for a visit before they come. I was on cloud nine.
The thought that I could hire a nanny, come home everynight, without picking up the kids first at the sitters, having then to make supper, feed everyone, do housework and laundry sounded to good to be true!!!
Ok I was game. Count me in. My husband however had serious reservations about having someone live in our house. He was concerned over our loss of privacy. He didn't know if he could handle that. I convinced him to try. If it didn't work out we could always go back to the sitter. He finally agreed!
The hard part was picking a nanny from a resume. Most of the nannies are Philippino. And you may ask why. My nanny has a degree in computer engineering and did work briefly as an engineering in her homeland, but the economic situation in the Philippines is such that she could not make enough money working between herself and her husband to support their family. The reality was, she could make more money as a domestic in Hong Kong. So that is where she went to work. She visited her family once every eight months when she lived in Hong Kong, has two children back home and worked in HK for 10 years as a nanny.
These woman dream of a better life for their families. Want their children to go to good schools. They don't want their grandchildren to have to live apart from their parents, like her children had to. And I really feel for her. She had made a huge sacrifice for her family to come her. In all probabilty she may only go home once in the next three years. The cost so great to return home. And most of their money they earn is sent home to support their families. After three years in Canada she can apply for landed immigrant status then work to bring her family over. After three years, all my kids will be in school and I won't need a nanny. So the arrangement is perfect for the both of us.
So what have I gained by having a nanny. I don't have to get my children up in the morning. They can sleep in. I don't have to bundle them up in the winter, take them out when they are sick, or get up earlier myself to have time to get everyone ready. I have switched to working a 4 10's work schedule. I go in an hour earlier which the children don't even notice anyway. And come home an hour later. This way I am home three days a week and work the other four. It is unbelievable what a difference that day makes. It almost feels like I work part time! But with fulltime benfits and salary. I can put my daugther in playschool now because I am off on her playschool day. If I did not have a nanny I never would have been able to work 4 10's, there was no way I could take my kids to a sitter for 6:00 am, who would want them that early! The nanny doesn't even have to be up when I leave because the kids usually sleep to at least 8:00. So she gets up when the kids do. My nanny does the housework which means that when I come home I only have to eat and play with the kids! It means on weekends I am not catching up on housework and laundry and neglecting the kids. Instead they have my undivided attention. Because all the housework and laundry has been done by the nanny during the week. It means that when I come home I don't have to cook supper, it is ready when I come in.
What does my nanny get out of all of this. Better working conditions and better hours then she had in Hong Kong. The hope that one day her dream will be fulfilled and her children will know a better way of live. The dream that one day she will finally be together with her family for good!
Have I lost my privacy. NO! Our nanny and like most other peoples that I have talked to, quietly retreat to their room at the end of their work day. No loss of privacy at all. On her days off she usually goes to the city or stays at another Philippino's house. They are a very tight knit community and support each other.
Are we inconvenienced. Honestly sometimes, she doesn't drive so we have to take her places. But living in the country I am used to driving and hey if we lived in the city...she would just take the bus. I cannot put into words how truly wondeful she is with the children, how quickly my children bonded with her. Yet how strictly employer/employee she has kept our relationship.
Do I have any regrets. YES!!!!!! Why didn't I hire her sooner!!!
My word of warning.... use a very reputible nanny agency. They all have placement fees. Don't necessarily choose the cheapest. You are hiring a caregiver for your children, you want the best. Pay the extra hundred or so for the reputible agency...your children are worth it!!!

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