Better days

I've had better days. This post was originally going to be about how toddlers and migraines don't mix (at all), and what a rough morning this was. But, when the parents of my after-school kids came home from work, they told me that the mom had just taken a job in her hometown, five hours away, and they were hoping to move by early October.

This devastated me, as you can imagine. Not only did my budget just get sliced in half, but two kids I thoroughly enjoyed seeing every day, plus their parents, whom I've loved from the beginning, plus a super friendly and sweet springer spaniel, were no longer going to be in my life. That's one of the hardest realities of being a nanny, babysitter, or caretaker, and one I push to the back of my brain all the time: the kids aren't mine. Not officially, and they can disappear out of my life in a blink. Sure, it's only been three weeks, but I've seen them every day, and come to learn and love them. And just like that, it's over. It's only a very, very small consolation that it's nothing I've done, but I'll still no longer be around them regardless.

I should mention, before I sound too despondent, that two days ago I received an email from a mom on Sittercity (where I've found all my jobs - GREAT site!) asking if I was available to do after school care, and I told her that I already had a position. I called her this afternoon when I got home, and on Thursday I'm going to meet her kids. So, financially it might only be a small pay cut rather than fifty percent (which, understandably, I can't handle). But that doesn't help the emotional side. Nannying is a great substitute for parenting, until the parents make a decision like this. Then it just hurts.