Todays newsletter from DFW Child is a good one.. Check it out.
| Stranger Danger |
| It was 8pm on a Monday night, as my husband and I walked in the door from a rare dinner out, just the two of us. Our daughter was 4 months old, and as new parents, what was once one of our favorite things to do, going out to dinner became an infrequent treat. I heard splashing upstairs and walked up, calling out to our nanny, whom had been with us for six weeks. I walked past the bathroom, saw she wasn’t in there and found her singing—earbuds in—in our daughter’s room several feet away. After seeing the baby wasn’t with her, I asked where she was. “In the bathroom,” she said. I barely let the words leave her lips when I rushed to the bathtub to find Stella drifting on her bath float in a tub filled with water—unattended. She smiled and splashed as she saw me, and I smiled back and greeted her calmly as if nothing was wrong. This was my first true test of motherhood. I fired her myself, and felt ashamed for not firing her on the spot in the bathroom. My focus was on my daughter, not on excoriating someone for endangering her life. But still, I felt like I failed my first test as a mother for not acting in that moment. The next week, I came back from maternity leave and started working again—remotely—but with a 4-month-old baby and no help. I started a new search for a nanny, Googling nanny interview questions, asking the mommies in my mommy group and other mothers who had wonderful experiences with nannies: what questions did you ask to find the “right one?” The best answer wasn’t what they asked, but what they asked for: another mother. The experienced moms asked their nanny candidates to be another mother to them: cook, clean and watch over them just as they do. It’s a tall order, but it worked for them. After two failed attempts as hiring another part-time nanny, I haven’t restarted our search for child care of any kind, as I still wrestle with trusting someone who’s not related to watch our daughter. But as I work on my trust issues, I’m going to take it slow and first start small. For those of you that are in the market, we recently took a look at the high-low cost of child care in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. How much does a babysitter cost these days? What about a nanny or child care? We compiled local sources and price ranges to help you along in your search. And if you just need to get out of the house for a workout? We’ve gathered some options for you there too. And last but not least, this list of child care and preschools across the area is a great place to start your search as you figure out what feels right for you and your family. |
| Cheers, |
