Hiring a nanny who is in major life transition?

[Anonymous]

I would never take a position again in which I felt I had to hide in my room (live-in) and/or censor my speech every moment of every day. I don't swear, use many slang words, use much sarcasm (at least around children), and I think that's enough. I like talking at home, and I appreciate that my employers always also feel like friends/family.

[Anonymous]

We had a nanny who was blindsided by a divorce about 6 months after she started working for us. She was reliable and fantastic through the whole time and the divorce had no impact on her performance other than maybe making the kids more of her focus in life for a while as she came to terms with everything. For a year after her divorce I would have said that she was a great nanny. Then she got a new boyfriend and went back to school and her job with us started slipping steadily down her list of priorities, but that's a whole different issue.