Life Disrupted
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Our Nanny, Luisa, (or Tata as Jackson calls her) took a well deserved holiday this week to celebrate her father's 90th birthday.
At times it takes a disruption to your regular routine for you to realize just how good you've got it. This is one of those times. A time to realize and acknowledge that it takes a special person to make our lives full and complete. I'm not talking about Jackson - I'm talking about Luisa. She makes it possible for us to live our lives like we want and provide the best possible support for Jackson.
We connected with Jackson's birthmother about 4 months before his expected due date. That's when our adoption journey got real. We realized that if everything went according to plan we would soon be the proud parents to a little boy and would need to love him, provide for him and nurture him. But we both work more than full time so we knew we needed help.
To find someone we could trust we turned to Care.com. In this spirit of full transparency (and to satisfy FTC guidelines), we are affiliates of Care.com and receive a small commission if anyone signs up using our link. Don't let that turn you off. It's a great service and we wouldn't promote it if we didn't have a great experience. Click here for their current promotion - Care.com.
Before creating our listing, we carefully considered what we wanted in a nanny: full time help, cook & clean for the baby and teach the little man Spanish. We posted our opening and quickly received hundreds of responses - mostly from people that didn't bother to read our requirements about Spanish or even taking care of a newborn baby. One woman said she would watch the baby but didn't change diapers. Really?!?!
As annoying as it was, Rod sifted through every single response and selected 3 people to meet after we returned home with Jackson. Our plan was to meet them and let them interact with Jackson which would help us decide. One lady didn't show up which eliminated her from consideration. One lady spoke Spanish but no English. That wasn't a deal breaker but she eliminated herself when she only held Jackson in a stiff-armed position away from her body. Very strange for a would be nanny. But then Luisa appeared - almost like the mythical Mary Poppins! As she sat there and snuggled with Jackson and explained in a soft, experienced voice how she would only feed him organic meals that she prepared and how she would teach him Spanish, a wave of calm flooded over us. Only as an afterthought she bothered asked us if we were okay with it. We had found our nanny! Or maybe she had found us? I'm not sure it matters. All I know is that from that day until today Luisa has been a godsend for our family.
After nearly three years, she's been with us every step of the way: newborn baby, teething, potty training, swim lessons, gymnastics, music class and pre-school. She's been there for every stage and event. And she takes care of more that just Jackson. She helps all of us live rich, rewarding lives. She's become an integral part of our family. Someone we rely on and someone we find it difficult to be without.
I can't tell you how happy I'll be to hear her key in the door tomorrow morning!
Check out the other services we've discovered at www.my2dads.com/resources. We're affiliates for some of these products but not all of them.
Sound off! Let us know who's indispensable in your life.
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