Is finding the right nanny like… falling in love?!

When my son was about 4 months old, I started searching for the first nanny we would work with.  I began the process the same way so many parents do:  they ask other parents (online and offline) how they found the nanny they worked with.  When I was chatting with one particular mom, I asked her how she knew the nanny she was interviewing was “the one.”  And she said to me wistfully, “well, to be honest… it’s a lot like falling in love… you know?  You just know when you know!”  Now, I was a pretty new mom and unsure of so many next steps, but it struck me as a little off that I had to have some big, visceral love feeling about the nanny candidates we met.  But maybe I did have to have some sort of gut affirmation that we were making the right nanny match for our baby and for our family?

Over the past 7 years, and especially after some deep dives with nanny agencies and the nanny industry, I have come to believe parents need to put on their professional, business caps on FIRST when searching for and interviewing nannies.  I talk about how important a good gut feeling is, and that we should listen to it, in my course as well (Same Team Online Course).  However there are key search, hire, and onboarding steps parents must know and take when beginning to look for and work with a nanny.  A large portion of parents doing the self search do not know these steps which is why I created the Same Team Online course.  Ultimately, working with a nanny should be viewed and set up as an employee-employer relationship.  Closeness and bonding may naturally unfold over time, but expecting to have a big dopamine-filled nanny search process is unrealistic and takes away from the primary, professional nature of the relationship. 

Tell me what YOUR first nanny (or parent search) was like!  [email protected]