This week we’re following a nanny and mother as they settle in to a new job. Day 1 and Day 2 went well, so how does it go flying solo?
Nanny:
MB left at 7.45 this morning so I had to do everything all by myself. I don’t think anyone went out with visible toothpaste or without something important. School run success.
I sorted some laundry while baby napped this morning and I realised I don’t know which clothes are which for the older boys. We’re going to have find some way of marking them until I learn. Or maybe they just share because they’re the same size? I haven’t dressed them in the morning so that’s something I need to find out but typically I forgot to ask this evening.
I also realised I didn’t ask MB how she felt about messy sensory play. I had sort of planned to do some this morning once youngest charge woke up but everything seems so clean that maybe she doesn’t allow it at home, so we read some stories and rolled a ball around instead.
The afternoon was pretty uneventful and for once there is nothing afterschool, so we played games together in teams – eldest and youngest against the middle two and me by myself. Then the older two played with Lego while I did dinner. I felt a bit bad that MB came in with Lego all over the floor as one of the things she seemed quite keen on was having everything tidied away, but she was home a bit early and I was going to make them clear up.
We went through my list of questions except the clothes, some easy to answer, some not so easy. She’s asked for a chat on Friday which makes me a bit nervous.
Mother
First day back and even though I’m not back fully until Monday I’ve kept 3 KIT days to the end to sort everything out. This means I’m not busy and I have to resist the temptation to call and see how everything is going. I keep bringing up the number and then not pressing call.
Now resisting the temptation to go home early and do a surprise pick up from school. I don’t want to barge in on the first real day. I’m not too sure how to ask how it went either. Part of me wants a really detailed handover detailing how the day went minute by minute and part of me says I have to trust that it was all okay and she’ll tell me if it wasn’t.
So at the end of the day it seems the timings were fine, but there are a whole load of things we never talked about. I’ve suggested we block aside time for a proper chat on Friday for the things I need to think over, like whether we really want to get a double pushchair. I’ve managed without one so far but I suppose we could get a double stroller affair and I take her point that she’s 4 inches shorter than me so the pushchair plus buggy board combo isn’t working and we need to find something that does.