On Finding Nanny McPhee

         

             Josh and I don’t get a chance to go out on dates very often. Choices we’ve made (having five precious children) make it....shall we say...nearly impossible. Sometimes I get to the point where I begin feeling sorry for myself. I am so incredibly thankful to have the opportunity to stay home with my kids. I love them. I love my job. I really do. I enjoy living out my dream, being able to spend so much precious TIME with my little blessings. I love that I am their primary influence right now. I love the freedom I have at home, the choices I am able to make. I love being their teacher. I am so grateful.

Sometimes though, I get downright angry. When I look like something that the cat dragged in, haven’t left the house for anything other than the grocery store for weeks, spend hours on end with my rear end plastered to a rocking chair nursing, nursing, nursing, nursing or pumping, pumping, pumping. When I come to the realization that my roots are two inches long from failing to get my hair done in half a year or that I haven’t slept through the night in months and haven’t spent time with my husband, it makes me feel angry.  When I hear something like the Hallelujah chorus each morning, substituted with the word “Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!” and feel a major accomplishment in taking a bath or using the restroom sans child, my heart wells up in anger at the pure exhaustion of it all! My selfish heart screams, “ME! MINE! ME TIME!”

 This is how Satan gets to me when I feel overwhelmed. He gives me a complaining spirit. I tell myself that it isn’t actually complaining, because it is so subtle. Instead of focusing on my many blessings, Satan creeps in and gets me to focus on problems. I think, “Why won’t someone help me out here? Doesn’t anyone understand my plight? Surely someone somewhere can see all that I have to accomplish in a day and wants to come offer me a helping hand of relief?!?” Really I have nobody to blame for these problems but myself. When I have this victim mentality, it is usually over something that I have the power to change.

 Recently, I just felt so overwhelmed and for the first time, was suffocating under the weight of the responsibilities that went along with raising five children. I needed an intervention. I think Josh needed one too. We needed some time together...badly and we needed it now! Kids are great, but if you are doing the kid thing 24/7, that can be a bit smothering, even for someone who loves being around their little kiddoes as much as I do.

          We had tried having babysitters in the past who were teenagers. Don’t get me wrong, they were all very capable, wonderful babysitters. Many times, when we left our kids with teenager, it seemed like they were a bit overpowered by our large bunch. Having five children, we now feel that we qualify as having babysitting “special needs.” We knew what we really needed was a professional. We had to find someone who would take charge and who had lots of experience with children.

          After searching for months, we finally found her... I called her and made arrangements. It was all set. The long awaited day had finally arrived. We heard a knock at the door. “Nanny McPhee” (name changed to protect her privacy) stood in our doorway wearing a black pea coat and looking something like a more attractive Jo Frost. (Or maybe I just wanted her to look like Jo Frost, since this is the only nanny I am familiar with. Of course, there’s Mary Poppins, but she wears that weird flower hat and funny clothes, so I couldn’t put her image in my doorway.)  She had a calm demeanor and wore a pleasant smile. Her hair was pulled back into somewhat of a bun. She was carrying a bag full of toys in one hand and a folded up musical piano under her other arm. The kids eyed “Nanny McPhee” with interest as she stepped into our living room. Mabel ducked behind my legs and gave a shy smile. Milla loves people and was beyond excited to meet a “new friend.” As soon as Nanny McPhee pulled out a blue elephant that blew butterflies out of its nose, we knew we had a winner!

          The sight of this Super Nanny I had heard so much about thrilled me because it meant that Josh and I would finally have our long awaited date. We planned to eat dinner at a local steakhouse. After giving “Nanny McPhee” typed out instructions and a quick wave goodbye, we practically ran out the door. Was this really happening? It all seemed too good to be true! Finally we were able to go out on a date!

          “Nanny McPhee” was excellent with our children. I had not a moment’s hesitation about leaving our little treasures under her care. When we came back home, crafts had been made, games had been played and fun had been had by all.           Most importantly, my sweet husband and I had a chance to reconnect without the kids and I had time to look at him, really look at him and listen to him without multi-tasking or trying to prop my eyelids open so that I could stay awake long enough for us to have a meaningful conversation. Reconnecting is so important in a marriage. We have a great marriage, but the past four years have been really difficult on both of us physically. In a word...exhausting! We’re so glad we’ve found Nanny McPhee. Now that we’ve found such a wonderful caregiver that we can trust, we plan to date more regularly. I have a growing list of places that I want to go with my Josh. :)  I am so incredibly excited! I have always been fascinated with the idea of having a nanny. Nanny sounds so much more intriguing than the title of babysitter. I got to visit with Nanny McPhee for a full hour after Josh and I came home. She stayed and chatted with Mary Alice and myself. She is a wonderful person that I know I can trust to come and take care of our kids for a few hours at a time so that Josh and I can go on regular date nights.  For our family she is “practically perfect in every way.”  Ahhhh....success. Planning for date night number two will now commence.