Nanny Nightmares – Finally Learned my Lesson (Chapter 8)

Follow Your Intuition

I continued to interview more nanny candidates. The process had become very tedious. I even looked into hiring a nanny agency but just couldn’t get myself to spend a $3000 fee for a nanny who might only last one year. I received an email from a young woman via sittercity.com. She lived nearby and was looking for a nanny position. I phoned her and she seemed terrific. I invited her to come and meet my family the next day. After 15 minutes, I knew I had found the right nanny – finally! She stayed for a couple of hours to talk with me, my husband, and meet our kids. Yeah!

The search process for a new nanny took four months, three poor hires, and more hours than I care to count. I have come to learn that hiring a nanny, live-in or live-out, is more than just hiring another employee for Zoe Foods. This is the person who takes care of my children all day long. She loves them, has fun with them, and yes, disciplines them as well. She has free run of our home and transports my most precious cargo. She can hold me hostage or set me free.

I’ve come to the conclusion that finding the right nanny is not all that different from knowing when your significant other could also be your partner for life. You just know when you know. It’s common sense, personality, and chemistry rolled up into one. Can you imagine calling your boyfriend’s past girlfriends to do a reference check?

If you’ve read Nanny Nightmares (Chapters 1-8), I’d love to hear what you thought. My mom, my saviour in Nanny Nightmares, just read my blog and said that it was too hard to find all of the entries. She was right! So, if you missed one, you can easily find it now by clicking on the link under “Categories” to your left.