The Nanny Plan

So our plan, such as it is, for childcare once New Baby Blah gets here is that once my maternity leave is over, my mother-in-law will take care of the baby. You may not know that my mother-in-law and I were friends before we became related, and she’s the one who introduced me to my darling Sweet Dub. I love her dearly, that goes without saying. However, she is not a person who is all that crazy about working. I mean, yes, it is rare to come across someone who LOVES their work, but my mother-in-law, who shall be known here henceforth as Mama J, really prefers to do as little as possible.

This preference is well-known among many of my friends, because we all used to work together. So the idea that Mama J is going to watch an infant for several hours a day has been the source of great incredulity and merriment within this circle, and recently a good friend of mine, Brianna, sent me a link for a nanny service. “Just so you have a Plan B,” she says.

The service costs $600 per week!

Once I peeled myself off the floor, I emailed my girl immediately and let her know of the craziness. She has not used the service herself, because she doesn’t have it like that either, so she was equally appalled.

Wow. That is over $30,000 a year. There are some who would say, “How can you put a price on care for your child?” But maybe those people have an extra $30,000 a year just lying around somewhere. Maybe it just falls between their sofa cushions and they hunt around for it when they need it. The only thing that falls between our sofa cushions is popcorn. And the remote. And the occasional sock or hard plastic "Toy Story" action figure.

Addendum: Just so you know, Mama J will not be watching the baby for free. We will pay her, but not $600 a week. Because we are simple folk with limited resources.