Nanny&Me

Every decision you make in life has its upside and downside. One of the downsides (and there aren't many in my opinion) to sponsorship seems to be the volatility of the waiting period. The visa processing times in Hong Kong vary greatly depending on which case manager you have processing your application. This means that for some families the wait time for their nanny's visa to be processed might be 2 months, and for others, it might be 8 months. For us, the upsides to hiring a nanny and sponsoring from overseas far outweighed this downside, but alas we are now in the thick of interim planning. Interim planning is needed to fill "the gap months"...those that exist in the time between when you go back to work and when your nanny arrives.

We are anticipating that the nanny could arrive as late as June. I go back to work in March. Our dream would be to have her arrive in February, but realistically we are thinking that May is the most likely, with April being optimistic and June being realistic. Of course interim planning doesn't come easy because finding flexible short-term care is not an easy feat. My husband's schedule is so variable (one of the reasons for wanting a nanny in the first place) that it makes other forms of childcare difficult. Originally we had thought that my mother and mother-in-law could manage childcare until the nanny's arrival, but that was when we thought it might be a month or so. Now that we know it could be up to three months, we felt we needed something that wouldn't have our mothers wanting to chop our heads off by the end of it. I originally explored part-time nannies. Of course this would be difficult; if we hire someone for set days then we may be paying for days that we don't actually need and short childcare days where we do need it, but in order to find someone as flexible as we'd like, we'd need to pay an arm and a leg.

If you've been following along with my blog, then you've probably figured out by now that I believe in the law of attraction. Generally speaking I think the possibilities in life are quite limitless if you believe them to be. If you assume something is possible, it probably is. If you put good thoughts and kindness out to the world, it will probably be returned. On the flip side, if you assume bad things will happen, they probably will, and the worst one...if you strive for mediocrity (in your personal and professional life) then that is exactly what you will get. So all that said, my husband and I were quite confident that something would just naturally work out. Well wouldn't you know that the universe must have smiled at me because I have a wonderful lead for a perfect situation.


The other day I was selling an item on my local buy and sell. The woman who came to pick up the lovely lamps I was selling was so warm and friendly. So much so that my husband even chimed in after she left saying how nice she seemed. Well wouldn't you know it that she had mentioned amidst our pick-up planning that she runs a home daycare. I know what you're thinking, "yeah so she runs a home daycare, but she probably only offers full-time spaces and has a full house"...well if you can believe it, as we got to chatting, she is nearing retirement and winding down her home daycare, as a result she's not actively seeking kids, but would be happy to offer some part-time completely flexible care for our son! She's been running her home daycare for 30 years and has five children of her own. Logan could be dropped off or not dropped off any day of the week, she lives literally half a city block from us, she offers lots of outdoor and play time for the kids, and it would practically be 1:1 care since she's winding down and only has one other toddler there right now. I couldn't be happier. We haven't smoothed out the details yet so it's not a sure thing, but I'm hoping that if I put good thoughts out there, it'll work out in our favour. ;-) This way, we can still rely on our mothers for some care (not only because it's a great cost saver, but also because it's wonderful watching their bonds grow with Logan), and we can use the home daycare option 2-3 days each week.

This looks like it could be a win-win and it will certainly put our mind at ease as we await our nanny's arrival.

If you're currently in the nanny recruitment or planning stages, don't forget to think about interim planning. Keep in mind that if you start the whole process earlier (to avoid having an interim gap) then you may end up with a nanny who has her work permit approved and is ready to hop on a plane while you're still on maternity leave. If you can afford this, then it certainly is a great option to give them time to adapt to your family and household before going back to work. Other interim planning options might include: family support, part-time live-out nanny, a temporary nanny share, or short-term home-care.


Have a question about interim planning?...Leave a comment below and I'd be happy to help. :-)