Daddy*drama Diaries (on Our Nanny) - Week 1 & 2

Monday 2/13
Day 1 started out in a pretty uneventful fashion. Our nanny showed up an hour late, with the blizzard supposedly screwing up subway trains in the city. Once mommy*drama had a chance to go over a few things with her, the nanny went off with our little one to explore a snow-white NYC. They went gazing at children sledding in Central Park, dropped in Barnes and Noble (apparently a favorite of many nannies) and returned a couple hours later. Besides the fact that our baby was perhaps overstimulated (which also happened to another nanny we tried out previously), the first half day went relatively smoothly.

Tuesday 2/14
Day 2 was when the drama began. Our nanny arrived late yet again, albeit just 15 minutes. Soon after she arrived, she informed us of a family tragedy that she needed to attend to and would require her missing work (there was some confusion between us on whether that meant next week or the same week). Being sympathetic, we suggested that she go home and take care of whatever she needed to, and just call us on Sunday to work out the schedule for Monday 2/20.

Sunday 2/19
We waited and waited for a call from our nanny, but none came.

Monday 2/20
Mommy*drama called our nanny first thing in the morning to figure out when she can come (so we can have a 'date afternoon' for a little alone time and a flick). Nobody answered so mommy*drama left a message. 10 minutes later, the nanny called back, saying how she meant to call us but we beat her to the punch. Anyway, I asked her to come at 2pm. 2pm rolled around, but she was not here. 3pm rolled around, still no sign. I therefore concluded she was not coming and our date afternoon went up in smoke. More importantly, we both realized we needed to come up with another nanny option ASAP.

We immediately mobilized and brainstormed on options. The first call we made went out to our second choice (the one who speaks Mandarin Chinese), who we felt badly to have turned down before. Luckily, she was very understanding. The problem, though, was that she had accepted a part time job. She was definitely interested, but felt conflicted about having to turn down something she already accepted, even if it was just part time. She asked to have until noon the next day to give us a response.

In the meantime, we tried our original nanny again, leaving a message on her voice mail to ask if she was OK and if she could just give us a call when she got a chance.

Tuesday 2/21
A few minutes past noon, the Chinese speaking nanny called us back. We both held our breath as we awaited her response. Yes, she'll do it. We both breathed a huuuuuuuge sigh of relief and excitement. At the same time, we're still puzzled by what happened to our original nanny.

Wednesday 2/22
You can only imagine how happy we were when our second nanny showed up, even if she was late as well (accidentally took the E train). The baby cut her new nanny some slack, sleeping a good part of the day. As a result, mommy*drama and the new nanny accomplished a lot together, from getting to know each other better to doing laundry to giving the baby a bath. As for me, I was just happy that (1) we have a nanny at all, (2) the nanny speaks proper Mandarin (not one of those who say they speak Chinese but only with a heavy accent and still demand an arm and a leg for their service), and (3) she promised to cook some good Chinese food (something that simply does not exist in the UWS). When she finally left for the evening, all mommy*drama and I could do is joke about how we hope she'll come back tomorrow.