This was one of the hardest weeks I've had in a while. We had to tell Natalie that we decided to put the boys in preschool next year instead of keeping them at home with her. It all happened very recently and very last minute.
About two weeks ago I got a call from the Bright Horizons that is on Milton property. They had 2 spots open up for preschool in the fall. I have had the boys on the waiting list forever, but because it was so expensive, I never really considered it a possibility. Not to mention Natalie has been wonderful and a life saver. So when they called, it took me about 10 seconds to turn the spots down. After I hung up, I thought about it, and I decided I was being a bit rash. I called back and asked if they could at least send me updated prices. By then, they had already offered the two spots to two different families. They sent me the prices anyway, and I was surprised to find out that for the preschool, the prices were actually lower than what I pay Natalie. Not to mention, I'd save money on electricity, food bills, mileage for outings, workers comp insurance for Natalie, etc.--all the extras that go into having a nanny. A day or two later, the school called me back to tell me that they still had the spots--**two** different families had turned them down. That's unusual at this school...I took it as a sign. Carlos and I both agreed that the boys really would benefit from being in school. It's not Natalie's fault at all--she'll socialize them as much as we let her. It's just prohibitively expensive to send them to story hour, playgroup, classes, etc. when you have to pay mileage and the cost of classes in addition to her salary after taxes are taken out of our salary. Yikes. It was killing us.
Well, it just about broke my heart to tell Natalie. We have come to love and appreciate her like part of our family. She has become a good friend to us, and was so good with those boys. She truly left our family better than she found it--the highest complement I can think of to pay to a nanny. But at the end of the day, we felt we had to do what is best for the boys, and I love the idea of having them right down the street from me with my colleagues' kids. I've heard nothing but raving reviews about this school--it's amazing by all accounts. Still, I feel like this was a break up and it HURTs. Just because it's for the best doesn't mean it's easy. I was alone with the boys on Friday--my first day of summer--and I didn't even enjoy it one bit. It was awful, actually. I could feel her absence, knowing she wouldn't be back (at least as their nanny), and I moped around most of the day.
To Natalie's credit, she took the news like a pro--like a class act. I couldn't have asked for more from her this year, and she ended on an even higher note than when she started. I'm so grateful to her.
This was the message on the boys' easel when I arrived home to deliver the news. :-(
The boys made this artwork with her just recently. Sebastian was SO PROUD of it. He kept pointing it out to me, "Mama OOK!!"
Natalie made this garden stone with the boys for Father's Day. He loves it.
After Natalie left on Thursday, I discovered these...and a beautiful note she left. Talk about feeling like a low life...it was so lovely of her I felt even more horrible.
Just recently, she gave me 4 CDs of pictures that she has taken this spring. I'll post as many as I have the patience for. There are some nice ones. I hope the hurt goes away soon. And I hope she finds another job with a great family asap--I'll do whatever I can to help her out.
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