The Kids have a Nanny? - Pam's Version
Let me just start out by saying it is the strangest thing in the world for me to say "We have a Nanny". For those of you have a romanticized notion of what this means, we do not have a full-time live in Mary Poppins Wannabe who tends to every whim and care of our children while I lounge around, hang out at the Tennis Club, or organize charitable events!
About our 3rd week of living in Prague, Ben started asking me to find a Nanny/Babysitter so that we could enjoy the city sometimes without dragging around a diaper bag, a stroller, and having to provide a shoulder ride 15 minutes into whatever adventure we were undertaking. We would also be able to eat at establishments that did not have Happy Meals, Chicken & Fries, or Chocolate Shakes on the menu and we would leave without carrying a balloon, coloring book/kids menu, or toy in hand.
I of course did not warm up to the idea much at first. Here we were in a new country, not able to speak the language, with two children who have never had a sitter in their lives...one of which is still breastfeeding. Yeah this would work.
By the time mid- May rolled around, I was quasi on board with the game plan and started checking out various websites for information. The ex-pats site was the best since it was formed for any and all newbies to this country with various information, searches, discussion threads, and postings. Here is the link if you want to check it out as a Guest Visitor www.expats.cz
With this website, I was able to decide that using a Service Agency was not for me...too impersonal and from all the comments I had read, overpriced and unreliable. I did find an amazing amount of thread posts for people who had good luck simply responding to and/or advertising on Ex-Pats so I started looking in earnest.
Just when I thought I would not find anyone to even respond to, an ad popped up for a 24 yr old American student who said she would be available all summer and perhaps continuing throughout her next semester. I immediately wrote to her, asked some questions, gave a detailed account of what she would be in for, and patiently waited for her response. About 5 days later I did hear back - she apologized because she had had visitors who had just left that morning and she had not been using her computer during their stay. She was very interested and wanted to start immediately. Now it was my turn for an apology as I explained that we were actually leaving in a few days for a month-long visit to the US and would not be returning until June 26th. However, I would be willing to set up a meeting prior to our departure, she could meet with Ben when he returned, or we could meet as soon as we returned and set up a start date for July.
A few days go by and I get a response that she signed herself up for some summer camp but it would be while we are gone and that she was looking forward to meeting us upon our return. We go to the States, where I have no internet connection, enjoy our month, and back to Prague we go to find a new message saying that she would no longer be available as much as she had thought. She would have about 2 weeks in July, a week in August, and then she would have to think about whether or not she could do anything once school starts. Okay - thank you for your candor but why did you bother posting in the first place? Moving on...
It is now July and I check out a few more postings but apparently no one is willing to give up their summer sunshine and freedom anymore...unless they could be full time, live in, or through an agency.
Ben decides to ask around at work. Why not? He works with adults - some of which have kids, some who have family members with kids - maybe this is the way to go.
So he sends out a SPAM email to the entire office asking for forgiveness that he hit every account but that we were really in need of some assistance with this search. He really wanted to have someone on board for the beginning of August so that we could attend the quarterly office party together. Now you all know that Ben is a man of few words, so there was not much description involved in his request...it did mention that we wanted 2 afternoons/evenings of coverage and that there were 2 children involved (with their ages) so at least the most base information was covered ;) Since I will be the one in charge of responding, setting up appointments, interviewing, and hiring, Ben asks if he can forward any and all responses my way.
I will not get into all the discussions we had between the two of us, nor will I say anything much about the responses other than you would simply not believe some of the ones we got!
In the mixture of replies, there were about 4 valid ones that peeked my interest and thus deemed a more detailed response from my end. Of those 4, 1 was knocked out of the running by their subsequent response...1 was removed from the picture by not responding at all, and 2 were worthy of interviews. However one of the two candidates was on a 2-week holiday and this would place her past our goal date and well into August. So off went a response from me to snag the only true possibility.
After a few exchanges back and forth a meeting was set in place. As soon as this woman walked through the door and opened her mouth, my decision was made. As soon as she walked into the playroom and interacted with the children, their decision was set in stone...she was the one! I did continue with the questions I had since I am not completely daft and I wanted to see more interaction and gauge the comfort level on both ends. However, after an hour we were all completely ready to make the deal - the only thing left to iron out was pay. We had different ranges in mind but once I received a thorough explanation of why this certain amount was being requested, I was even more convinced that this was the correct choice. The only bad news to come out of the entire meeting was that, since her boyfriend works at Monster she would not be available to start until the following Monday...after the office party had occurred. Oh well, you can't always get everything right...or can you? Turns out that this quarterly party was an outside Beach Party type affair and children would be welcomed so we all won out in the end...we hired a Nanny, the children are completely infatuated with her and I think the feeling is mutual, and we all were able to enjoy the office party!
For those of you who want more specifics, or are asking yourself why does she keep using the word Nanny instead of Babysitter, let me give you these final details:
Hannah is from England and has the loveliest accent you can imagine. Whenever she speaks and if I close my eyes, I can imagine Julie Andrews is in the room and may break into song at any moment. She is in her 20's, teaches Yoga, teaches English as a Second Language, and is a Nanny for another family as well. So, in all honesty, how could I call her anything other than Nanny Hannah?
About our 3rd week of living in Prague, Ben started asking me to find a Nanny/Babysitter so that we could enjoy the city sometimes without dragging around a diaper bag, a stroller, and having to provide a shoulder ride 15 minutes into whatever adventure we were undertaking. We would also be able to eat at establishments that did not have Happy Meals, Chicken & Fries, or Chocolate Shakes on the menu and we would leave without carrying a balloon, coloring book/kids menu, or toy in hand.
I of course did not warm up to the idea much at first. Here we were in a new country, not able to speak the language, with two children who have never had a sitter in their lives...one of which is still breastfeeding. Yeah this would work.
By the time mid- May rolled around, I was quasi on board with the game plan and started checking out various websites for information. The ex-pats site was the best since it was formed for any and all newbies to this country with various information, searches, discussion threads, and postings. Here is the link if you want to check it out as a Guest Visitor www.expats.cz
With this website, I was able to decide that using a Service Agency was not for me...too impersonal and from all the comments I had read, overpriced and unreliable. I did find an amazing amount of thread posts for people who had good luck simply responding to and/or advertising on Ex-Pats so I started looking in earnest.
Just when I thought I would not find anyone to even respond to, an ad popped up for a 24 yr old American student who said she would be available all summer and perhaps continuing throughout her next semester. I immediately wrote to her, asked some questions, gave a detailed account of what she would be in for, and patiently waited for her response. About 5 days later I did hear back - she apologized because she had had visitors who had just left that morning and she had not been using her computer during their stay. She was very interested and wanted to start immediately. Now it was my turn for an apology as I explained that we were actually leaving in a few days for a month-long visit to the US and would not be returning until June 26th. However, I would be willing to set up a meeting prior to our departure, she could meet with Ben when he returned, or we could meet as soon as we returned and set up a start date for July.
A few days go by and I get a response that she signed herself up for some summer camp but it would be while we are gone and that she was looking forward to meeting us upon our return. We go to the States, where I have no internet connection, enjoy our month, and back to Prague we go to find a new message saying that she would no longer be available as much as she had thought. She would have about 2 weeks in July, a week in August, and then she would have to think about whether or not she could do anything once school starts. Okay - thank you for your candor but why did you bother posting in the first place? Moving on...
It is now July and I check out a few more postings but apparently no one is willing to give up their summer sunshine and freedom anymore...unless they could be full time, live in, or through an agency.
Ben decides to ask around at work. Why not? He works with adults - some of which have kids, some who have family members with kids - maybe this is the way to go.
So he sends out a SPAM email to the entire office asking for forgiveness that he hit every account but that we were really in need of some assistance with this search. He really wanted to have someone on board for the beginning of August so that we could attend the quarterly office party together. Now you all know that Ben is a man of few words, so there was not much description involved in his request...it did mention that we wanted 2 afternoons/evenings of coverage and that there were 2 children involved (with their ages) so at least the most base information was covered ;) Since I will be the one in charge of responding, setting up appointments, interviewing, and hiring, Ben asks if he can forward any and all responses my way.
I will not get into all the discussions we had between the two of us, nor will I say anything much about the responses other than you would simply not believe some of the ones we got!
In the mixture of replies, there were about 4 valid ones that peeked my interest and thus deemed a more detailed response from my end. Of those 4, 1 was knocked out of the running by their subsequent response...1 was removed from the picture by not responding at all, and 2 were worthy of interviews. However one of the two candidates was on a 2-week holiday and this would place her past our goal date and well into August. So off went a response from me to snag the only true possibility.
After a few exchanges back and forth a meeting was set in place. As soon as this woman walked through the door and opened her mouth, my decision was made. As soon as she walked into the playroom and interacted with the children, their decision was set in stone...she was the one! I did continue with the questions I had since I am not completely daft and I wanted to see more interaction and gauge the comfort level on both ends. However, after an hour we were all completely ready to make the deal - the only thing left to iron out was pay. We had different ranges in mind but once I received a thorough explanation of why this certain amount was being requested, I was even more convinced that this was the correct choice. The only bad news to come out of the entire meeting was that, since her boyfriend works at Monster she would not be available to start until the following Monday...after the office party had occurred. Oh well, you can't always get everything right...or can you? Turns out that this quarterly party was an outside Beach Party type affair and children would be welcomed so we all won out in the end...we hired a Nanny, the children are completely infatuated with her and I think the feeling is mutual, and we all were able to enjoy the office party!
For those of you who want more specifics, or are asking yourself why does she keep using the word Nanny instead of Babysitter, let me give you these final details:
Hannah is from England and has the loveliest accent you can imagine. Whenever she speaks and if I close my eyes, I can imagine Julie Andrews is in the room and may break into song at any moment. She is in her 20's, teaches Yoga, teaches English as a Second Language, and is a Nanny for another family as well. So, in all honesty, how could I call her anything other than Nanny Hannah?
posted by Pam at
7:54 AM
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