How to Decide if You Should be a Nanny: 9 Simple Questions

"Were you born before or after World War II?" 

That's what "my" 9 year old girl asked me one night before bed. 

I've been a full-time nanny of four (ages 6, 9, 12, 16) since January of this year. 

And I'm realizing there's an endless supply of hilarious things they say. 

If you've ever considered being a nanny (or know someone who has), then I hope this post will help in the decision of whether or not it's something to really pursue:

1. Are you okay with working 2nd shift? There have been weeks where I didn't see my mom even though I live with her because she was asleep when I got home and gone to work when I woke up. It's definitely something to keep in mind when considering being a nanny. Many children are in school, so you'll probably be on a different schedule than the 9 to 5 crowd. For me at least, the hours are fairly flexible. I can go in early to buy groceries, prep a meal, clean rooms, do laundry and dishes, or I can just be there in time to pick them up from school or get them off the bus. Then I can finish things up after they've gone to bed. Some days I'll go in at 10am then others at 4pm.

2. Do you not mind being made to feel old? Besides the WWII question, these kids can make me feel old. Last night I told the boy that I was his age twenty. years. ago. They've also never heard of things that were a big part of my childhood. Speaking of my childhood...

3. Do you want to feel guilty for your behavior as a child? I thought I was the easiest kid to raise ever. I never broke a bone, never did drugs, always made good grades. Yeah, that's great, but kids are still a lot of work and responsibility. It takes brainpower to teach a kid to be respectful while also making sure they do their homework that gives them "a headache," eat their supper that's "disgusting," and go to sleep because it's an hour passed their bedtime. I'm sorry, Mama.

4. Do you love adventure? Every week, if not every day, is an adventure. Sometimes it's a walk to the pond to throw rocks, or a visit to their school book fair, or a trip to Chuck E. Cheese, or almost an entire day in the Apple store because someone dropped her phone. Every day is different enough to be fun, but enough stays the same (like the kids' names and where their house is) so that it doesn't feel like it's my first day again. Not that my first day was bad; I just didn't know where anything in their house was or what their routines were.

Another unexpected adventure was making an adorable Dorothy outfit for her "dress up as a book character" day at school.

5. Do you like the idea of getting paid to read and be read to? My boss' secretary told me that the only thing he's said to her about me is, "She stays a little later than other nannies, but she reads to my kids and I like that." I was just doing what they asked me to, although I do read more than one book a night. Reading is important to most parents (& teachers), so it's a huge plus if you enjoy it!

6. Do you genuinely care about people you just met? The mom told me with tears in her eyes that it's so hard to find someone like me who really cares about their children. I didn't feel like I had done anything special; it's just natural for me to care about people. That will make your job so much easier. If you don't care about people, don't waste your time or theirs. I've had a job where they told me maybe I care too much about the kids, so there are jobs where you don't have to care so much. Being a nanny is not one of them.

7. Do you love to laugh? The 6 year old went outside in his PJs to get his dad from the barn. So when he got back, I asked him to put his shoes away. I went upstairs searching for crayons for their upcoming vacation. He finds me in the laundry room later and says, "Megan, I have something funny to tell you. I just walked all around the house looking for my shoes! Then I realized they were on my feet the whole time." It's a good lesson to learn now, buddy. I'm glad he was such a good sport about it. And I love that he wanted to tell me; otherwise I wouldn't have had that great laugh. They do and say things daily to make me laugh. Every single one of them has cracked me up! Not only is is good for you if you like laughing, but it helps them be in a better mood and see you as more approachable.

8. Are you ready to be able to relate to nine-tenths of the things moms say? "I miss my kids already, and I just left them. And I'll see them again in 2 days." I never thought I'd say that about my own kids much less anyone else's. I've also caught myself thinking, "I'm excited to fold laundry because I get to sit down." I read a post of things about being a mom, and one of them said, "You run toward vomit instead of away from it." I had just done that the week before. Cleaned it up & also did the whole "hold her hair back while she's bent over the trashcan" thing. This was so unexpected for me.

9. Can you handle being treated like family? This includes being ignored, locked out of the house, and complained to. The day after I wrote the first draft of this post, one kid said, "I'm glad you're not going to the beach with us," because I had to make her clean her room before they left. Being a nanny can be hard on your emotions. You have to be able to let stuff go and remember you are awesome even when the kids don't think you are. But being treated like family also includes being invited to lunch at school, having inside jokes, getting an unexpected hug, and being given a valentine card with a note from each one! They'll break your heart, but they'll also melt it.

If you answered yes to most of these questions, I highly recommend signing up on Care.com which is where I found this job as well as other part-time babysitting jobs. There are lots of opportunities according to zipcode, & it's easy to use. Oh, and it's free! I'm happy to answer any questions you have about it or about being a nanny in general.

If you've been a nanny, what questions would you add to this list?

3 Reasons I'm Glad I was $25k in Debt

This is the letter I received after my first of 5 student loans was paid off. And it felt awesome. First reason I'm glad I had debt?


1. Accomplishment. The feeling of accomplishment is not enough to make the debt worth it. I could have also felt accomplished if I'd saved all of that money to buy land. But it is great being able to look back at how much you owed and measure how much of your goal you've reached.

It's a great confidence-booster and teacher of discipline. It has helped me develop good financial habits and minimize bad ones. This will help me in my future endeavors, which include saving up to buy that land I mentioned earlier. Now I know it's possible not just for some people to save $25k in less than 3 years, but it is possible for me to do it.

As I said, though, that accomplishment alone is not enough to have made the debt worth it. So I shall continue.


 
After finding out how much I owed in student loans while in my last semester of college, I remember singing "Oh, praise the One Who paid my debt..."

I began to think about how I would treat someone if they paid that $25,000 debt for me.

I'd be so thankful and feel kind of guilty and embarrassed. I'd be amazed at their kindness. I would probably talk about it in whispered tones of wonder and almost disbelief.

My love of handwritten letters would cause me to write a thank-you note first.

Then I'd want to live my life in such a way that they wouldn't regret paying the debt for me. This would mean working hard to take care of myself, not being wasteful, and paying it forward by helping others. I'd also want to stay in touch with that person to let them know what their sacrifice helped me do and become. Staying in touch would also allow me to know what ways I could be helpful to them in return even though it would be nowhere near what they did for me.

This leads us to my second reason for being glad I had that much debt.


2. Gratefulness. I'm grateful to all of the people who helped me along the way by giving me a place to live, a job (with free delicious and usually healthy food!), and encouragement and advice.

I'm also grateful for the friends I have who "confessed" that they continue to defer their loans. My boss has even told me most people never pay theirs back as if I shouldn't either. Although I don't agree, there is a debt that I can't repay. As my friend said about her student loans, "I just keep hitting 'defer, defer, defer.'" It seems like such a hopeless place to be. The debt always hanging over your head, lurking in the back of your mind as you try to enjoy your life. You're just not really free. You're trapped knowing there's nothing you can do to pay it.

Then Someone pays it for you.

That sin I know I can never work hard enough to erase? Yeah, Someone paid that debt for me. That bigger debt. (Luke 7:41-43 & 47) That's gratefulness. That's freedom. And that's what hit home when I was  $25k in debt. If I would do all of those things for someone if they had paid my financial debt, why not do them for the One Who paid my spiritual debt?



Maybe $25,000 doesn't sound like much to you. Now that my debt is less than $5k, it doesn't seem like as much to me either, especially when I hear stories of people who have paid off $250k. I'm learning not to compare that way, though. They might make over 4 times more than I do. But that still doesn't mean it's easy for them. Or they could have 3 kids. But just because I don't have any children doesn't mean I haven't had to sacrifice.

Which leads to my third reason I'm glad I had so much debt.

Photo by my 12-year-old niece, Grace

3. Inspiration. I've been so caught up in the sacrifice, the giving-three-fourths-of-my-income-to-pay-off-student-loans that I didn't even stop to think that this part of my life could inspire others. Maybe a little but not really. I was excited for myself to be out of debt, but I didn't think I could help others until mine was completely paid off.

Then I shared the basics of my story with a group on Facebook last month.

Their responses were all it took to change my outlook. It's the reason I've written this post. I want to encourage you in practical ways as others have done for me.

No, paying debt isn't all about sacrifice and discipline, hard work, and being deprived. I have gone on a trip out of the country every year since I began paying my debt! I would be without months of these amazing memories if I'd let my debt keep me back:

• I spent Christmas (and 2 weeks!) in England with three lovely friends visiting Jane Austen & C. S. Lewis/J. R. R. Tolkien sights & so much more. 
• I went on my first road trip which was with my younger brother for 40 days! From Georgia to Alaska through Canada. 
• A few months later I was invited to raft the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon (which I had never seen) for 17 days. I actually considered not going because of finances. So glad I went anyway! 
• The next year I raised over $1,000 thanks to generous friends to go on a mission trip to Thailand where I had so much fun playing with children in an orphanage.

Having that to look forward to keeps me going when I have to give up smaller things or even other big things like having my own place to live (instead I live with family for now).

Don't give up everything that's important to you in order to pay your debt.

Some sacrifices aren't worth making.

*Update: I have now paid off my loans! Click here to read about what I didn't expect after paying off my debt.

Though I'm not an expert, I do have some experience. So let me know if you have any questions. I'd love to help you if I can!


Do you have any different reasons you've been glad you had your own debt?

Alaska



The actual state bird of Alaska is the Willow Ptarmigan. Sometimes it seems like mosquitoes are the state birds here, too, though. 

This came from my dad's brother who lives in Alaska
during the summer.

I've never been to Alaska, so reading these Fun Facts about Alaska was really fascinating:

Alaska is larger than the next four largest states combined

Alaska contains 17 of the 20 highest peaks in The United States

Alaska is only 50 miles from Russia.

Alaska has 29 volcanoes

Alaska has 33,000 miles of coastline...more than the rest of the lower 48 combined (This includes island shores)

Alaska is the only state to have coastlines on 3 different seas. Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea

There are more than three million lakes in Alaska

Prison Ministry

During the time this letter was written, I was old enough to visit my brother in jail. I remember being a little nervous, but also being very excited because I could talk to him on the little phone through the glass like on tv. It wasn't as great as I'd expected. It was too loud to hear much so lots of the time was spent saying, "What?" or hearing my brother tell the other people to be quiet.

Also, I remember having taken a field trip with a leadership group in high school. We did a tour of the jail. Now, for a while I'd had this idea that jail might not be so bad because it gave you plenty of time to write & read. Plus, everything is taken care of for you. Naive, I know. But, don't worry, the field trip banished those thoughts. First of all, I love three things that jail doesn't give you: privacy, quiet time, and life outdoors! Some of the people on this trip were afraid of the inmates. Others were waving at their friends in there, lol! I wasn't afraid; I was just uncomfortable & felt sorry for them, even the ones (or especially the ones) who were yelling for us to get out of there. It really made me want to do some prison ministry.

Writing letters seemed to be the best way for me to do that. That's how I found Christian PenPals & wrote to many prisoners through them (some of which I'll be putting on here later). Although I haven't used this site, I'm sure WriteAPrisoner is another good way to get involved. I'm thinking about trying it myself. It's different in that you see the prisoners' pictures and interests and choose which one you want.

Anyway, the following is a letter from my brother who is about 7 years older than me, & I love him very much. He's been out of jail for a while & is maintaining a good job. :) He recently got engaged to the amazing Heather, whom we all just love! Thankfully things are looking up in his life from when this letter was written.

Squiggly Pens :)

Ps. 57
(the chapter printed inside that notecard)

This letter is from a lady at a nursing home I visited for a couple of years in high school. I love her shaky handwriting; it reminds me of those squiggly pens. :) I wanted to post this today as a reminder that there are people in the world who could be waiting for someone to visit them. You could be that visitor. Or yours could be the letter that they enjoy. Find someone to bless this week. 

They just might bless you back. 

This letter has made me want to start visiting a nursing home again. I've also wanted to visit an orphanage for a while. I so enjoyed playing with the children at the ones I went to in Africa, but I also want to go to one while I'm here in the States. I'd love to hear any of your ideas of how you can bless people this week. Oh, & don't forget to enter the One Month Anniversary Contest.

Love, Papa

I bought him this stationery. :)

The blue paper is the outside of the stationery I bought him.

In celebration of Father's Day, this is a letter from my dad. I'm not able to spend the day with him because I'm out of town, so I miss him very much! Even though this song is not to the dad, I wanted to post it because I feel like it's our song. I loved it the first time I heard; I always feel like it's my dad saying the words to me, esp. since one day it came on the radio, & he made sure I listened. So it's even more special now that I know for sure that he agrees with what the song says. :) Yes, Papa, I know I'll always be your little girl! And I'm so glad. :)

Dear "Aunt" Megan

This letter is from one of my mom's many awesome friends. I always looked forward to seeing her (& still do now) even though it wasn't very often. I love her voice & her smile...just her presence in general. She is a precious, beautiful woman that I'm so very grateful for. She was always so uplifting & exciting.

Mrs. Mary wrote on that chair in the yard on card:
"Reserved for Mary"
I love it! :)

The back of the card & envelope.



The niece who made me an aunt for the first time was born a week later. :)



Dear Meggie-Love, Granny

Since Grandma passed away last year, I figured she wouldn't mind me sharing a letter she wrote me. So I'm starting with this. It's one of the oldest I found. She's the one who really got me started writing letters because I always loved getting them from her. The more I wrote, the more I received! I remember walking to the mailbox as a child & smelling the gardenias on the way. That's still one of my favorite smells.

That's a 32 cent stamp.

Tom & Mike are my cousins. Since she had asked about how I was doing in school,
I asked her how they were doing. She lived close to them at the time,
so she new more of what was going on with them than I did.

Whenever I read this, it reminds me how her basement floor
looked & felt before it had carpet.