The Nanny Search Begins... 

Like many working moms out there on maternity leave, there comes a time when you have to go back to work.  For me, I sadly have less than 2 months left... one of the most important tasks I have to do before going back to work is to find a Mary Poppins equivalent of a nanny for Baby R.  Mr. R and I had already decided to find a nanny (versus using daycare) a few months ago. It was a fairly easy choice as there is not a lot of daycare options around us.  And the thought about taking the subways to go to daycare is out of the question. When I was pregnant, I rarely got offered a seat so I can only imagine the horrors of bringing a stroller onto the train during rush hour!!  Once I started talking to friends with nannies, I realized, there is so much to consider regarding the logistics of hiring a nanny:

* Know our work schedules (We both hold fairly demanding jobs. Although it's easy to think we can be home by 6PM everyday, it might be harder to practice in real-life)
* Create list of Job Duties (although this seems clear - take care of Baby R, it really is not.  Do we ask her to bath Baby R? Wash the bottles? Wash her clothes? Clean her toys? Make her food?)
* Create list of optional Job Duties (I have friends who ask their nannies to do light housekeeping while the baby is asleep.  I don't know how I feel about this yet, but perhaps creating a list of optional job duties would be the way to go in tackling some of these non-baby related items)
* Pay package (should we pay off the books? on the books? What kind of vacation times can we offer? Do we offer the nanny all major holidays off with pay?)
* Have a clear set of boundaries, rules (Is TV watching, internet surfing, chatting on the cell phone allowed? How about when the baby is asleep? Can the nanny "hang out" with other nannies? Can they invite other nannies/children into our homes? I must confess, Mr. R and I are both a bit controlling. We definitely don't want to throw a book of rules at the nanny on her first day of work... so this is an area we definitely need to think more about.)
* Discuss our parenting style as so we can find a nanny that is in-line with our style  (this would be easy if we actually know what kind of parenting style we have.  With Baby R being less than 2 months old, we rarely had to think about this. However, since we need a long-term nanny which we want to keep into Baby R's toddler years, we might have to start thinking about this. Do we want someone who is comfortable enforcing discipline & structure or someone laid back?)

Our search for Baby R's nanny starts tomorrow when I interview our first candidate! I am quite nervous about it. I am sure a lot of this anxiety has to do with knowing I need to separate from Baby R soon and I am essentially trying to find someone to replace me! But that's a whole another blog post ....

Will write more about the interview process soon....Wish me luck!

A Day in the Life of One 5-9 Mom

I cannot say I envy the life of a full-time mom. 

For one, I cannot spend 24-7 with any person/thing, let alone with a baby, however much I love him. But as reality has it, our family cannot afford a stay-home mom, and therefore it often come at the expense of my time and career advancement. (What career?! You said.)

In case you are curious, this is what my typical (good) day looks like:

• 530-6am – Woken up by the Little Guy 
• 6-610am – Trying to wake up (or stay asleep?) while the Little Guy crawls all over you 
• 610-730am – Feed, clean, change the Little Guy while still trying to wake up. Also prepare Little Guy’s lunchbox, if that wasn’t done the night before. Often around this time Ah-Gong and Ah-Ma (grandparents) will call a billion times to get a 2-minute (so they said, it usually end up to be 20 minutes) Facetime with Little Guy. 
• 730-8am – Take turns with Dad to shower while keep Little Guy out of the toilet and away from toilet paper. And get ready for school/work. 
• 8-830am – Daycare drop-off. Often times get pushed out the door before you even get a proper kiss goodbye from Little Guy. 
• 830-9am – Commute. The true alone time you have. 
• 9am-5pm – Work work work. Dealing with other whinny babies who are not related to you. Oh yah, sometimes I need to use lunch time to run an errand, buy grocery, or participate in the seems-like-once-a-week parent-teacher conference that always happens during work hour. 
• 5-540pm – Commute. Not as leisurely this time as it often involves battling traffic and trying to make it to daycare before Little Guy becomes the last to be picked up. 
• 6-610pm – Pick-up. 
• 610-7pm – Grocery shopping or playground. I feel like I go to Trader Joe’s daily. And always to get organic whole milk. 
• 7-730pm – Change out of work clothes within 30 second. Let the Puppy go out to potty and play. Unpack Little Guy’s lunchbox, make Little Guy’s dinner, wash bottles, unload dishwasher, load dishwasher (with new dirty dishes), feed Little Guy, have Little Guy reject your food, make more food, coerce/bribe with the feeding, clean the house, make fresh bottles, play with Little Guy. Oh, and don’t forget to feed the Puppy. 
• 730-8pm – Bath Little Guy. And lots of play. 
• 8pm – Put Little Guy to bed. 
• 8-830pm – Prepare and eat dinner. Often fast food or quick meal, hence the unhealthy weight gain. 
• 830-10pm – Work if needed. Otherwise laundry, prepare Little Guy’s lunchbox, cuddle with the Puppy, read books or do 10 minutes of Pilates if lucky. 
• 10pm-6am – Exhausted. Sleep, unless woken up by Little Guy demanding to eat every 2 hours or hysterical cry due to gassy tummy or constipation, then you can kiss sleep good-bye. 

Now now, don’t get over-excited about the 8pm-6am “free” time. This is the best case scenario. It is when Little Guy is HAPPY AND HEALTHY, Dad is not traveling, and work does not require after-hour meeting or dinner. 

Wash, rinse, repeat!