Nursing/Postpartum Tuesday: Ice Gel Teether Keys

I have had it with my family. They are all clingy, whiny, and obnoxious. I am in deep hot water at work because they won’t let me do my job. I can’t quit because my husband doesn’t want a SAH wife, even though he wants the lifestyle of a man with a SAH wife. The kids are weak, whiny brats who require way too much coddling. I am so done with the lot of them.

Okay this will out me if you know me in real life. Hiring a nanny. We have four kids ages 7, 5, 3, and 7 months. Most time will be with littles, some will be with all, I try to be around in evenings to help. Kids are well-behaved for the most part and if they like you, will be good for you. We interviewed a bunch and genuinely loved two candidates. Had both come in this weekend to trial sit the kids for a couple hours and both went well. I think one is clearly the candidate we should hire on paper and the other is the one our guts are all pushing us towards.

Nanny A: 28, has been working for a family for 4 years with five kids. Unhappy with that role (they didn’t pay vacations or time off? asked her to stay late a lot and she just got back from maternity leave and just realized she deserves better). She has a two month old but not worried about that – her mom watches the baby. Really nice. Maybe a bit more strict. Kids liked her. References all solid. Couldn’t really do overnights or travel with us (sometimes we take nanny with us on vacation for 1-2 weeks in summer – more of a covid thing but could see happening again)

Nanny B: 23, watched kids for a little over a year each for a couple years then moved to our city for the weather. Has a job right now but not enough hours. Does evening classes at a local community college, but feels up for longer days because honestly she needs the income. Very warm and calm demeanor. Everyone just really took to her. References all said they loved her but she wasn’t able to give me a reference she’d worked for for more than a year (and we didn’t go super far back). Could do overnights and travel with us. Really good with babies.

We should clearly hire A right? But kids preferred B, though said they’d be happy with either. I’d be happy having either in my house all day. We also feel guilty about even thinking of hiring B over A since there is genuinely nothing wrong with A – we thought she was definitely it until we met B. Both enthusiastic about the job.

Please tell me I’m not the only person struggling to get her family life back on track after the pandemic? We slid into some really bad habits, like too much screen time, that are proving difficult to break. I honestly don’t know what we would’ve done differently, though; we were in survival mode and screens were the only way to get a dang break. Also, there are only so many times you can play board games and puzzles before everyone starts going nutty. The kids are fighting us every step of the way on reducing screen time. Even fun things, like going out to eat, aren’t exactly fun yet because their skills have regressed and they have zero patience for waiting for food, after 2+ years of home cooking and takeout. We’re going on a short vacation this weekend, and I’m feeling more dread than excitement. Will we even have fun?

I’m not even touching the mental health aspects of all of this. Suffice to say, I am still not back to 100% and one of my kids developed a serious anxiety disorder during the pandemic. So there’s a lot of layers to this.

What are your favorite swimsuits for going to a waterpark or Great Wolf Lodge-type place? The last time I wore a one-piece, I regretted it. Such a hassle for going to the bathroom and there were um, slide wedgies. I like to be an active participant in the waterpark experience, lol. It seems like this would be a good time for boyshort bottoms but I’ve yet to find a pair that’s comfortable on my pear shape/doesn’t ride up on the legs.

I’ve been so burnt out… so I took a weekend and did something for myself with a group of moms I know. Mostly outside but in the car a good bit together. Everybody vax’d and boosted.

We’ve also got a family trip coming up next week… a big one. Pre-planned ages ago.

Last night (22 hours after I saw her), one of the women tested positive for Covid on a rapid. I am so mad at myself… now I will likely be the one to ruin our trip. I feel so guilty… like I’m being punished for being selfish.