sep, 12th - kelly....

day 942 / 41:

we lost our wonderful nanny, Kelly, a couple of weeks ago. she's not actually lost.... although, since she's currently in Italy, she might well be......but we couldn't delay her travels and return home to Australia, any longer. from the start, we knew that she would have to leave by the summer but even though Kelly had no formal nanny training, i knew that she would be brilliant with Limi (with us all in fact) and i'm heartbroken to say that i was sooo right. heartbroken because it's so tough to say goodbye especially when you know that you'll be explaining to Limi for ages that Kelly can't help to look after her any more....and is too far away to even visit.

Jae, our first nanny {see day 389, day 546}, was a tough act for Kelly to follow. Limi and Jae had a fantastic relationship, with Jae helping to get Limi walking, talking, counting, swimming and even tap dancing. Kelly came bounding in with her sunshine enthusiasm and tackled the role with an amazing can-do attitude. i loved this attitude....it led to many adventures for the two of them....for example, we had the following conversation:

me: 'last night, A. took Limi outside to see some fire engines that were fixing an electrical fault around the corner. she loved it. it would be great to take Limi past the huge, local fire station sometime and see whether you could smile a sweet smile and get the firemen to show you around.'

kelly: 'we can do that today on the way to swimming.'

me: 'oh, i wasn't thinking that you had to do it today....but that's great.'

[three hours later, Kelly and Limi have sweetly smiled their way into the fire station and i am receiving photos of them sitting in a fire engine surrounded by firemen giving the thumbs up.]

Kelly taught Limi her colours, how to do an impressive rockstar hand gesture and forward rolls, introduced her to The Lorax (which has to be Limi's favourite Dr Seuss book of all time) , how to eat spaghetti, embraced dress-up every week and finally, introduced her to Darren, her boyfriend, who Limi considers to be her own manny as well......

we were very lucky to have Kelly.....and she will be sorely missed *sob*....i'm not cut out for all these goodbyes.

p.s. the moustache references above are due to the fact that these two have a moustache obsession {see day 803}...i thought that my banner was pretty funny :-)

jun, 27th - summer rituals....

day 869:

lots of daisies for making lots of daisy chains (Kelly is a master of the daisy chain)........

apr, 19th - introducing kelly....

[ Kelly & Limi]

day 803:

figuring out how to have careers and still be there for Limi (for her sake and for ours) has been tricky....it's certainly not a new topic and not one that i want to rehash here...but i've come to appreciate how important a balance is for me and how that balance can be different for every family and every parent. we still haven't managed to get it right (although, hopefully some exciting plans on the horizon will move towards a better balance)...but one thing that has helped incredibly, has been the wonderful nannies that we've managed to find. our first nanny, Jae {see day 389} was brilliant at helping me make the transition from being with Limi 24 hours a day to starting work again.....unfortunately her visa ran out in December and we had to find someone new......

Kelly, Limi's new nanny, is also fantastic. our biggest measure being how happy Limi is......and seriously, A. and i are always the ones grateful for squeezes and kisses when we walk out the door....as she happily skips past singing at the top of her lungs. Limi has adored both Jae and Kelly and we have loved how much they have both contributed to her development, self-confidence and general happiness. 

Kelly also comes from Australia (i may just need a South African next to balance things in this house.....I'm drowning in Aussialia). not only does she make Limi happy but she brings general cheer into our house. something that A. and i both appreciate. we always wanted a happy, relaxed, music & laughter filled home and that's exactly, with the help from Kelly, what we seem to have managed to create for Limi.

and an added bonus with having nannies from a different country is that they are just as excited to visit the sights of London as Limi is. i'm playing catch-up to my two-year old who has already been to see Damien Hirst at the Tate and the Inside Out exhibition. (although i wouldn't have it any other way as that is exactly what living in London is all about).

we have been extremely lucky to find both Jae and Kelly and I love the idea that Limi is gathering these amazing people who will always want to be part of her life.

p.s. these are the pics that i get sent whilst i'm working.....it's hard to stay serious when this pops up on your screen :)

mar, 2nd - introducing jae......

day 389:

introducing jae, limi's nanny.......a dancer turned nanny, from pretty much the same area in Australia as A.

it's only been a couple of months but already jae feels like part of the family and an extra person to shower love and zerbets on Limi......with family scattered far and wide, it feels like we're creating our own small community (with friends like this and this and this around the corner) to ensure that Limi gets plenty of different influences......

more on how i am adapting to the loosening of the Bugaboo strings....to come.

dec, 7th - nanny diaries....

day 297:

one of the amazing things about living in London is the incredible diversity. this was very evident when we advertised for a nanny and had responses from people who have moved from all the far-flung corners of the globe.

with the new year, also comes a return to work for me. i've put it off for as long as possible but sadly, it's time to step back on the ladder. i wrote about the the conflict of returning to work vs. staying at home, on day 211. i still haven't reconciled it in my heart but my head says that's the best thing i can do for our family.

so, after making the BIG decision it was time to find her a amazing nanny. from the 60+ responses that we received from the ad (yikes, there are aLOT of available nannies out there) I interviewed eight people: a French manny, a Colombian and a Mexican nanny and then a couple of Southern Hemisphere girls. i modified this list of interview questions from BabyCenter, changing a few and adding a couple of my own like: "What makes you angry? Do you sing? Can you give me an example of where you've shown initiative in a previous childminding position."

the diversity definitely threw up some interesting answers. some of my best came from the Parisian manny who did warn me that his English wasn't brilliant.

Me: "What's your approach to discipline for a 10 month old?"

French Manny (FM): "Pah, she's a bebe."

Me: "What's your favourite activity to do with a 10 month old?"

FM: "Pah, she's a bebe."

Me: "If Limi has an accident in the park, what do you do?"

FM: "Call 111. Non, call 222."

Me: "999?"

FM: "Yes, 999."

Me: "Limi eats Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner."

FM: "Non, only 2 meals."

Me: "No, she eats 3."

FM: "Non, 2 meals."

Me: "Um, lunch is quite small."

(that might explain why Parisians are so slim and chic....they start from a young age....)

in a parallel world, the FM would have been incredible. Limi would have picked up French, a very relaxed attitude and the other mothers would have loved me. (although the restricted diet may have been a bit severe). but we agreed that the language barrier for FM and I was never going to work out.

after eight interviews and three trials we have found a wonderful nanny from Oz. i am feeling a little better about January now.