Hollie

Last December I posted an ad on Care.com: "Wonderful nanny needed."  I got more than 60 applicants in just a few days.  The last person to apply was Hollie.  One of the references Hollie gave told me that Hollie was incredible with children and with families and was just an amazing person.  Her reference also told me that we would be very lucky if she decided to work with us.  Within a day of Hollie joining our crazy brood I knew that she was the "wonderful nanny" we needed and I knew that we were lucky to have her.

Last week Hollie left for Italy - to pursue her career interests and to make me jealous (ok, not the latter, but I am super jealous of Hollie spending 3 1/2 months in Italy).  Eight months with Hollie as our nanny and one week without Hollie - I have to say Hollie's reference was spot on - we were so lucky that she chose to work with our family.  Not only did Oliver and Henni fall in love with Hollie, but also Hollie taught me about me and about being a mom.

Davis and I have a hard time leaving the kids; we could probably count on two hands the number of date nights we've had since having children.  Much of this is just us - our way of parenting - but another piece is that we had a few people who weren't totally awesome with the kids.  The people we tried weren't horrible, the kids just didn't like them and I would get calls asking me to come home from the grocery store, from a meeting, from wherever I was because Henni was crying and because Oliver was beside himself that Henni was so sad.  Then along came Hollie...Hollie does incredible crafts, she sings,  she takes care of large puppies, she does dishes, she does and folds laundry...Did I mention the kids love Hollie and that I love spending time with her as well?

Hollie gave me a feeling of freedom.  Being away from the kids for the day - with Hollie being at home with them - I could breathe because I knew they would not only be okay, but they would also be having fun and they would be happy.  I knew they would be playing cheetah and gazelle tag, finding wonderful books at the library, riding bikes, or creating pictures that would adorn our walls.

To be totally honest I took advantage of the freedom afforded by Hollie, but I didn't realize this until Hollie left.  The kids loved being with Hollie so much that I took the time I needed to get stuff done, plus some.  I was able to have some just me time with Hollie with the kids because I knew they were having so much fun.  Hollie showed me that the kids can be happy with someone other than me (that sounds a little obvious and narcissistic, but hopefully I am getting my point across).

Although we appreciated every day Hollie spent with us and we appreciated all she did, I don't think we fully comprehended how much she had become a part of our family and how much she did for us.  Davis and I got on the topic of people being worth their weight in gold - of course Davis did the calculation and determined he is worth more than $5.4 million.  I would just put forth that Hollie is invaluable and we are eagerly awaiting her return.