Sweating The Small Stuff

I call my son, Buba, which is short for Bubala, an endearing Yiddish word that I’ve heard throughout my life. Some create variations of it, hence my Gramps calling me Beccala, but I’ve surprisingly just stuck with the shortened version of the real thing for my little man.

 As a new(er) mom, one of the decisions I’ve found to be “major” at this stage in The Buba’s life is the continuous battle between choosing daycare or a nanny/babysitter. Because neither my husband’s, nor my, professional days are traditional 9 to 5, finding the best solution wasn’t “easy.” Hence The Buba’s now almost 2 ½ and I’m still struggling.

 For the first 5 months of The Buba’s life, I was working full-time for an employer who graciously agreed to an (then) innovative working week, which included my working 2 days/week from home. I always told myself prior to even becoming pregnant that this is what I wished for. There was no way I would ever consider working a part-time schedule because I knew both my employer and myself—I would still be putting in full-time hours, but only getting paid for half of those. Therefore, I was thrilled to have the best of both worlds—being able to be home with my newborn while working some days and get a break and out of the house the other 3.  So, in June 2009, when I was laid off and began my own venture, it was time for Plan B.

Plan B ended up to be what I can only call a juggling act. I was building a business around The Buba and my husband’s days at the fire station. Somehow we managed (and saved a ton on daycare) for an entire year, but my business was in full swing, and being the NOT stay-at-home-mom that I am, could no longer handle the unknown. Therefore, in June 2010, we finally decided to bring a nanny/babysitter on board. We were fortunate to have received a referral—she was the sister-in-law of a good friend of ours, so there was no “real” interview process and I already knew I could trust her. Exhale. She was a recent John Carroll University graduate, education major, and on the hunt for her first teaching job. Exhale. She stayed with us the entire summer, put up with our “flexibility” or “irregular” schedules, came with us on vacation (if any of you moms have the opportunity to bring a babysitter on vacay with your family—DO IT. BEST THING EVER) and really became a part of our family. EXHALE. Then, our new family member did the unthinkable. She landed a “real” job. GASP.

My last post talked about relationships, networking, “making friends” for your professional career. Well, on unique occasions, the professional connections you make can work in conjunction with your personal life, and this was one of those fortunate times. One of my agency clients brought on an intern last summer, who I got to know very well. In one of our casual conversations, I found out she often watches her very young nieces and nephews. As the summer was coming to an end, my ears perked up, and without hesitating I found myself offering her a job for the upcoming school year. She, too, was excited (what college student wouldn’t be, it’s a good gig!) and after a quick meeting with The Buba one evening, we were up and running come August. She, too, quickly became an extension to our family, and just yesterday, was her final day with us as she will be graduating and off to get her MBA at the University of Toledo. I woke up yesterday morning with a bit of emotion, and then our beloved babysitter arrived in the morning, with a DVD in hand. After just the intro, which read, “Ryan and Kelsey’s Grand Finale,” the tears began flowing. The 2:51 video was a compilation of their favorite things to do together, and it was priceless. She arrives in the mornings at 8:00 a.m., and I think I finally stopped sobbing around 11:00 a.m. It was the best gift anyone could have given us.

You never know if those caring for your child/children actually “like” them. I mean, it’s a job, so it may just be something they “have” to do. And, as I told my graduating babysitter, “Every parent wishes that their daycare provider will love their child,” and it was evident in that video montage that that is exactly what she did.

While she is graduating, we are lucky to have our teacher babysitter back for the summer. How fortunate to have two young women we love that love us, too? Come August, when the school year begins, we will once again be struggling to find our next best solution, so if anyone has any recommendations, I’m all ears. Only one more year until preschool. Amen!