Please sign on the dotted line

 After eight weeks, we finally had our meeting. My husband and I sat down to discuss the rules. He was not prepared nor was it scheduled as I had originally envisioned. It honestly came after locking myself in my closet where I  punched cardboard boxes full of our winter wardrobe, and screamed just how much I hated my children through tears. I'm sure I looked beautiful. Yes, I was throwing a tantrum fit for a two year old. No, an almost thirty-five year old. I'm almost embarrassed to share this but somewhere someone might be asking "Ok, then what?" Waiting for an answer to her woes. At the moment I was ready to make an entrance back into the world that had made me so fragile in the first place, I called for a meeting. I thought of it as an interview of sorts for both parties. Nothing had been agreed upon as of yet. My bewildered husband (who had taken my place pleading with the kids to get their chores done while Mom " cooled off"), was then asked a very pointed question. "If you were placing an add for a nanny what would it say?" I had caught him off guard, unprepared. I'm so impatient, I just started drilling him, "What would the responsibilities be? Would she be a live-in? Would she have to have her own vehicle to transport the kids?"



I calmed down and then we went over it all in a more rational manner. We decided she would feed them three meals in addition to a healthy after school snack. She would do the laundry, grocery shopping, transport the children to their after school activities, do something educational-interact with the two year old at least part of the day. The hours for summer would be 7am-10pm.  We decided to enforce a new motivating chore system bribing them with a daily treat as long as they are finished within an hour of waking up, which would now be 8am as opposed to the summer custom, between 10am-noon. We also discussed consequences this part is not real clear yet rather a work in progress.



We will have a Sunday planning meeting to look at the family's schedule, to plan meals and my "days off". The plan was two 4-5 hour blocks of freedom. However, just three days into this revamped experiment I think to begin it will be one block for this girl-uninterrupted. I also think we need to rethink the hours on the clock. Fifteen for such meager pay is just not worth it.



We deliberated about different aspects of screen time and agreed on some limits, they were different for summer time versus during the school year. And many other details of our life with five personalities. Personalities we were given to figure out, shape and inspire. It was so refreshing to go over expectations, what was working and what wasn't. It was a DTF (defining of the roles).



Once the conversation ended I said "Thank you for the opportunity. I will think it over." I'm 99% sure in his mind he had imagined a submissive, naughty nanny to beg for the job. We don't always get what we want, do we.



Over the past couple of years I've had the chance to work in a few different settings, with lots of interesting people and encouraging management. I grew and enjoyed the praise I had for learning quickly and having a pleasant personality. This new job of a nanny for five, (count them one, two, three, four, five), is exhausting but I now feel it's clear what tasks I'm expected to complete every day. I will no longer roam the house surveying all that needs to be done, getting overwhelmed and then sitting on the couch with a bag of chocolate chips (which aren't even really candy) and a bag of mini marshmallows, accomplishing absolutely nothing of importance. Getting up and ready before the kids has had an immense impact on the rest of my day. It has also taken a toll on my free time and I'm asleep by 9pm. I recently quit an outside job after a three day stint and have stopped scanning the classifieds for all the jobs I know I could do. After my interview with the CEO here at Cooper Inc., I feel that I am a good candidate for this occupation and the challenges that lie ahead will be interesting and full of variables. I hope I will make a difference in this position and be recognized for my efforts (I'll have to remind him my love language is praise). I think I may even make a career out of this.