Any working mother will tell you that childcare is a challenge. Leaving your baby in the care of someone else is never easy and for some there are limited choices. We criticize the system regularly but the reality is not too bad - especially compared with some other countries. Daycares will take babies from 4 months and are subsidized. A full-time private daycare rarely costs more than 300 Euros a month ($500), plus a little extra for food. Public daycare is half that, and often has better facilities, although the supply comes nowhere near covering the demand. School starts at age 3 and is from 9am-5pm. A full-time, live-out nanny, although expensive, is not prohibitive, and can be a viable option for many double income couples. Throw grandparents who live close by into the mix, and you have some decent childcare options that don’t eat up an entire paycheck.
We decided early on that we wanted to go the route of a full-time nanny, at least for the first year. My husband’s family lives an hour and a half away – close enough for sporadic, emergency help, but too far for our day to day needs. Six months seemed too young for a daycare, and I liked the idea of having someone take care of Adam from home. If this person was also willing to do some housework and cooking, we could maximize the hours we were home to enjoy our baby, and minimize stress. Decision made, we turned to the hiring process.
For about a month, I interviewed around 20 people. Some were recommendations of recommendations. Most came from different agencies. People told me to trust my instinct, but that’s easier said than done when you’re doing something for the first time. Some of the candidates called me ‘mam’, and my husband ‘sir’, making us feel quite uncomfortable. Others were shy and it was difficult to get a realistic impression.
Finally we chose one girl…. simply because we liked her. She hadn’t worked in a house before, her only experience with babies was with her niece, thirteen years before, but we liked her. She seemed like a happy person, honest and easy-going, so even though she didn’t check all of our requirements, we offered her the job. Today, Adam greets her with a smile and pays little attention to me as I head out the door, cheerfully playing and sitting in her lap. What more could a working mother ask for?
We decided early on that we wanted to go the route of a full-time nanny, at least for the first year. My husband’s family lives an hour and a half away – close enough for sporadic, emergency help, but too far for our day to day needs. Six months seemed too young for a daycare, and I liked the idea of having someone take care of Adam from home. If this person was also willing to do some housework and cooking, we could maximize the hours we were home to enjoy our baby, and minimize stress. Decision made, we turned to the hiring process.
For about a month, I interviewed around 20 people. Some were recommendations of recommendations. Most came from different agencies. People told me to trust my instinct, but that’s easier said than done when you’re doing something for the first time. Some of the candidates called me ‘mam’, and my husband ‘sir’, making us feel quite uncomfortable. Others were shy and it was difficult to get a realistic impression.
Finally we chose one girl…. simply because we liked her. She hadn’t worked in a house before, her only experience with babies was with her niece, thirteen years before, but we liked her. She seemed like a happy person, honest and easy-going, so even though she didn’t check all of our requirements, we offered her the job. Today, Adam greets her with a smile and pays little attention to me as I head out the door, cheerfully playing and sitting in her lap. What more could a working mother ask for?
Ugh. Childcare is the bain of my existence. We also have a full time nanny and although she loves our son very much and he is clearly attached to her she is older and not highly educated and sometimes I have doubts about her ability to respond in an emergency. In addition to that, she costs an arm and a leg - roughly 1/3 of my salary, nearly as much as rent.
ReplyDeleteThose are the drawbacks of living where I live as oppposed to living in Europe, I guess.
Hope this continues to go well for you!