Nanny Jackie

Dear Peanut and Munchkin,

Today I am thankful for your new nanny, Jackie. She is full of energy but still gentle and understanding with you. She truly enjoys being with you and you all have lots of fun together. She does a great job of communicating her expectations to you and listening to you, as well as communicating with your dad and me.

She brings her own crayons and paper, books and games, so you have something new and interesting to do together. She takes you outside when the weather permits, and you have lots of fun stomping through piles of leaves, running in the grass, drawing with sidewalk chalk, and going for walks to just enjoy the fresh air. Inside, you play games and make up stories. I love how much she encourages your imagination and keeps you active. But she’s not afraid to be firm with you when you need correction.

The funny thing is that we almost didn’t meet Jackie. When Munchkin started preschool in September, your Lola started taking care of you on Thursdays as well as Wednesdays, so we only needed a nanny on Tuesdays. Heidi, who had been your nanny on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a year, left us because she wanted more hours. We interviewed a few candidates last summer and decided to hire Katie, but when September rolled around, she had some health problems that prevented her from working all month. In the mean time, we had a few other people filling in, and Jackie was one of them. Katie worked for us for two weeks at the beginning of October, then had problems with her health again. There was no way to know when she would be able to resume working, and we all agreed that you needed more stability and consistency. It was time to find someone else to take her place. Since Jackie had been such a good fit when she was filling in, we asked her to be your new nanny. Sometimes you have to go the roundabout way to get on the right road, and it seems this was one of those times.

Jackie has been a great addition to our family, and I’m thrilled we found her. You seem very happy, too.

Love,

Mama