If you follow me on Instagram, you might recognize this hash tag of mine. (If you don't follow me on IG, you should!!! My user name is kyna_d). This hash tag is reserved for Thursdays, when the most amazing nanny watches Ellie. Vicki, Ellie's Thursday nanny, works at the company I manage as a part time instructor. I have always been impressed with her, and her repertoire with the kids we work with. I still remember that late evening, this past January, when Matt and I were scrambling to figure out who would start watching Ellie on Thursdays...and Vicki popped into my mind. I texted her late that night, randomly asking her if she would want a permanent, one day a week nanny job, and she immediately replied "Yes!"
It came with some adjustments. Back in January, Ellie had never been left alone with anyone expect family members. At first, there were tears...but Vicki handled it with so much poise and grace! I've learned, after watching Vicki with Ellie, that you know the true value of a babysitter or nanny not while your child is being an angel and is well behaved, but when your child is crying, or misbehaving. How your sitter or nanny handles those situations proves what kind of overall care your child will get. And, like I said, Vicki handled those first few rough Thursdays with so much patience!
It's now been over 10 months since Vicki started watching Ellie on Thursdays, and all I can say is that we are so so so so lucky that we found such an amazing, energetic, creative and responsible nanny to be a part of Ellie's week. Vicki is simply AMAZING with Ellie! There's no other way to describe it!
And what makes it even better is that we have since gotten to know Vicki's husband through all of this, and have realized that not only are both of them amazing with Ellie (as a matter of fact...Ellie seems to almost have a little crush on Vicki's husband! It's actually pretty cute!), but we've really gotten to know them a lot better and have become good friends with them!
There is nothing harder as a working mom, than knowing that 8-9 hours of the day, your child is being raised by someone else. We have always been lucky (and spoiled) that we've had awesome family members that have watched her. But when it was time to find someone outside of the family to watch her, it was a scary and daunting task. But then Vicki came into the picture...after one totally, random, late night text to her....a complete shot in the dark. And now, over 10 months later, Ellie adores "Vicki days" and calls her "my Vicki". It's the cutest thing on Thursday mornings, to watch how excited Ellie gets when Vicki walks in the door...and how equally excited Vicki is, to throw her stuff down and quickly get involved with Ellie, matching her enthusiasm the entire time. It's hard, in this day and age, to not only find trust worthy child care, but to find people that will bend over backwards, unselfishly, to be the absolute best they can be for your child. We've found that in our Thursday nanny...and all three of us will always be eternally grateful for that!
Here's some photo's from Ellie's past Thursdays with Vicki...
WE LOVE YOU VICKI!!!
