By Pamela Brownstein
Wanted: A smart, friendly, funny, caring nanny who cooks, cleans my house, teaches my baby to walk and talk, sings songs in a British accent about helping the medicine go down, has a cheery disposition about working for free, then flies home using her umbrella.
Oh, wait a second. I just described Mary Poppins. I forgot she’s a fictional character. Still, when it comes to babysitters, she sets some pretty high standards.
Even though she’s not real, my situation is: Realizing that I won’t be able to take care of my baby and work at the same time. I have been fortunate that I have been able to juggle both, since I work from home, and for the first six months, my baby had fairly simple needs, and he’s really sweet and good.
But now at six and a half months, Wolfe is a busy boy. He is eating baby food and moving all over the place (not at the same time, obviously). These are awesome milestones — I love to feed him new flavors and watch him get sweet potatoes all over his face, or smile as he tries to crawl into the dog’s cage — but they’re not exactly conducive to deadlines, and this juggling act is taking its toll on me and is not fair to him.
It’s a decision every working mom has to face eventually: Finding the right daycare provider.
I know there are a lot of good daycare facilities in Beaufort, but I have yet to explore them seriously. What I really want is someone who watches kids at her house, a flexible home-y environment. But I have yet to find that yet.
So if you know of anyone who fits that description, tell her I’m in the market for good care. Otherwise, if you see Mary Poppins on your rooftop, let her know I’m hoping she drops by my house soon.
Pam’s POV: Pamela Brownstein is a 5-foot-tall Scorpio who loves Beaufort and is trying to figure out this whole parenting thing. You can contact her at theislandnews@gmail.com.
