Looking for a Nanny

[side note: thank you all so much for the wonderful advice on my last post! For now, I have decided to just let the message I left for D stand. I saw her MIL at the grocery store last week and chatted with her for awhile. I mentioned that D had sent me a card and that I called her and left a message for her, but that I have not heard back. I know that she will tell D that she saw me and am almost certain she will tell her what I said. I will also being seeing D and her family this week when we attend our kids pre-school back-to-school open house. I will also be seeing her at the end of September for our kids fundraiser for their pre-school. Whether or not we actually talk at these events will remain to be seen. I am just going to "go with the flow" and see what happens, if anything.]

DH and I have been talking about hiring a nanny to work 2 days/week after the babies are born. Since we are both self-employed and I work from our home office, we figured it would be a better solution to have someone come to our house rather than hauling all three of our children to another location.

I also think it would be a huge benefit to be able to see my children during the day and to be able to lend a hand to the nanny when the babies may be crying or fussing a lot. I also want the opportunity to bring L on play dates without the babies so he can get some friend and mommy time without his siblings. I am also hoping to get some errands done on the days that the nanny comes too (how do you grocery shop with two infants and a 5 yr old anyways?).

So, in short I will be cramming A LOT into the two days that the nanny will be here:)

After talking with several people, it seems like hiring a nanny would also be less expensive for us than taking our kids to a day care facility. In the summer, L goes to an in-home day care 1 day/week and we pay $40/day for him; if we have three children go there it will be $120/day. I have a friend who has a 4 yr old and twin 1 yr olds and she pays $100/day for a nanny to come to her house.

A couple of weeks ago I started asking my friends if they knew of a nanny. Lo and behold, last night I received an email from a friend of mine who is a Labor and Delivery nurse at our local hospital. It said:

I was working this weekend and was conversing with a visitor and she happened to say that she has nannied for triplets in the past. I asked her if she still does and she said maybe weeknights or weekends. I know that wasn't what you were looking for, but at least it's a contact and surprise: she lives right in [your town]! She is a teacher which is why she isn't available during the day. She was happy to give me her info and tell me that even if you would need a sitter or something-she would be available. Also, she said maybe she could connect you with someone.

I am so excited about this email! Since my DH does not work a lot in the winter time from Thankgiving-ish to March and L will be starting Kindergarten next year and be at school from 9-3, I don't really need someone year-round. If I had someone in the summertime during our busiest work months and also the busiest time with L, that would be perfect! My friend also told me in another email last night that this nanny did say that she might be available in the summer and that she would be willing to help in any way that she can. Plus, she lives SO close to me!

And, even if it doesn't work out and she isn't our nanny, it would be nice to have a sitter for the evenings and weekends who is familiar with multiples. Now, that is what I call priceless!