Monday, January 19, 2009

Meet Margie!

Margie is our new nanny! It was time for us to bite the bullet and go down the 'Nanny Road' (with a capital 'N' and 'R'). While we definitely weren't wanting someone to live with us, we knew that we need someone who can take care of us full-time and be here at our house during the week. Due to some stars aligning in some seriously amazing ways, we found Margie and Margie found us. She's had her own in-home daycare for over 15 years, she's a serious professional with a ton of experience... and we're feeling quite honored that she's chosen to trade in her in-home-daycare career to take on us. In addition to being way over-qualified in every possible way, she's also experienced dealing with some of the stuff we worry about most -- like, living in a predominantly white area; being Hispanic herself, having grown up here, and having raised her own two bi-racial daughters here, Margie comes to us with lots of wisdom to offer our young and unusual family. She also hit it off with Meera, Kyle, and Owen right from the start, which is, of course, key. Oh, and she has an incredible amount of (much needed) energy. All this, combined with her 50+ years of wisdom (yes, can you believe it? you'd never know it from looking at her, but she's 50~something years young!!!), make her quite possibly the perfect Nanny for us. Of course we don't want to jinx ourselves, so we'll see how it all goes in the coming weeks, but we have reason to believe that this just might work out in a real way. For the past six weeks she's been coming over for a few hours here and there. We're pretty well acquainted with her now, and she with us. Today she was here for the day with me, and tomorrow is her first day flying entirely solo with all three kiddos. She'll be with Meera all morning and then the two of them will go to pick up K & O from school. Margie and the threesome will spend the afternoons here at home together. This scenario is the best possible. Meera can keep her home routine in tact, and K, O, and M can all stick together during the hours that Kyle and Owen aren't in school. I'm feeling very, very, very good about this childcare (and, let's be honest, family-care) situation. This afternoon I watched as she captivated K & O with a story of a humpback whale and whale-baby. And then a few minutes later I watched Little Miss squeal with delight on Margie's lap. We'll see how it all unfolds, but really-- I could see this lasting for the long haul. A girl can hope!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Margie sounds absolutely wonderful. So glad that you all were able to find someone so lovely to take care of your little ones.

Love & Hugs,
Claudia

Anonymous said...

Wishing you all the best !!! I completely trust your judgement.

Love, Roxann

Mark and Sarah said...

Sounds really perfect. Hoping everything goes swimmingly for a long, long time. Keep us posted!

p.s. What happened to Alex? Hopefully she's jetsetting somewhere wonderful.

Bek said...

A thousand hurrahs.

A great nanny (I hate the word too, there should be a word that means more than that) really does help take care of the whole family. I am so glad you found her (and vice versa).
R

Anonymous said...

welcome margie!!! i'm so excited for you guys. ;)

-lori

Anonymous said...

What happened to your student Alex?

T and T Livesay said...

awesome - what a relief to have this option --- happy for you all!!

Heather said...

For those asking about Alex---
Alex is a full-time graduate student and really has a whole world going on with a "real life" career in progress. She was the BEST for us when it was just part-time and just K & O, but we needed somebody who could be at our house all day everyday dealing with an infant in addition to the crazy boys. Alex is a brilliant woman with a big career ahead of her and is focusing her attention on school --- which is exactly where she should be focused. Look for her to do big things in the future!!! But, once a "nanny" of ours, always a nanny of ours - she'll forever be a VIP for us (and she'll still be babysitting for us from time to time).
HBJ

Anna said...

Since I am currently working as a nanny myself (although part time)and bringing along the little one- I say a big hurrah for finding a good match! Its so key, and it sounds like a great working relationship. And I dont mind the term nanny at all, it sounds a little more official than babysitter ;)

Anna said...

Since I am currently working as a nanny myself (although part time)and bringing along the little one- I say a big hurrah for finding a good match! Its so key, and it sounds like a great working relationship. And I dont mind the term nanny at all, it sounds a little more official than babysitter ;)

Walkin' by Faith said...

Hi Heather! Enrique and I are leaning towards a nanny for our little one. How did you find Margie? Any suggestions for agencies/firms/web sites that help families find nannies and vice versa? Thanks in advance. JuLin is only two months...but we know that we'd prefer personal care to daycare.