Last Day

It feels like we have a lot of firsts and a lot of lasts. I guess every family does.  But they seem to be coming fast and furiously over here.

Yesterday it was our nanny's last day.

You may remember all the work involved in finding a nanny for our two boys. And from the moment we first interviewed the person who would become the nanny for our boys, I felt wonderful about her.

And I was right.  It's been a wonderful year. Over the last year, the boys have come to adore the nanny. She's always playing games with them, introducing them to new snacks, doing craft projects with them. But she also makes them do their chores and does their homework with them.

Once, I came home to find Monkey, Bug, and the nanny all sitting up around the kitchen table, all three of them doing their homework (since the nanny is a college student and it was finals week.)  The scene absolutely melted my heart.

She would take silly pictures and videos of the boys doing all sorts of silly things, to share them with Hubster and I when we got home.

Hubster and I often have crazy schedules, and she was always remarkably flexible, even twice coming over on days the boys' school was unexpectedly let out several hours early.

Both boys would give her huge hugs when it was time for her to go home in the evening, occasionally whining a little that they didn't want her to leave.

I wish she didn't have to.

She had become so much part of the family, which I never expected.

But the boys will soon be out for the summer, and Hubster will be home for some of that. The after school program finally had two openings (after being on the waiting list for nearly two years). Bug and Monkey are already in the before school program and love it (so much so they still want to go to it, even if I happen to be home in the mornings), so I know they will love the after school program. Not to mention, it is going to cost us a third of what we were paying before. I know this is a good decision for the boys.

But I still will miss the nanny.