Anonymous wrote:We are two teleworking parents, not essential, and feel ZERO shame about having our nanny continue to come in. We trust her to social distance as much as us (and frankly, if you DON’T trust your nanny to social distance, barring extenuating circumstances like a spouse in healthcare, why are you hiring someone with such poor judgment??)
Both families do 1x/week grocery shopping and walks. That’s it. No take-out, no nothing. DH and I feel it’s important to maintain our health and sanity. We have demanding jobs with meetings all day and if we had to work AND take care of the kids it would result in:
1) Lack of sleep for us, as we would have to stay up late to finish work, resulting in a compromised immune system
2) Increased stress and bickering and unhappiness, as we would have to fight over who gets to attend which meeting and who cooks, etc.
3) Reduced physical activity and increased screen time for the kids, which is not good for their sleep, and therefore immune system
We looked at the trade-offs and realized it makes more sense to have our nanny keep coming. I would encourage everyone else to think about this trade-off as well.
No shame here either. Like you, we have demanding jobs. Plus my husband and I are contractually obligated to be working certain hours for our clients. If one of us is not available during those hours because we're chasing a toddler and a preschooler, that person risks losing their job. If one of us loses our job, we will keep a roof over our heads and won't starve, but we certainly will not be able to afford keeping our nanny on, as finding a job in the new economy might not be so quick or easy... We both work, she works too.
We barely leave the house - just once every other week for groceries. The kids play in the backyard. We don't see anyone but our nanny, and our nanny does not see anyone outside of us and her adult son who lives with her (he teleworks and always has). She drives to and from our home and has her groceries delivered. She is middle aged but healthy. We've also repeatedly made sure she feels comfortable coming (we would still pay her). She says yes.