What The Family Is Like Behind Doors
The day begins……You glance down at your watch as you walk in the door at 8:00 am. You step over some laundry by the back door, and trip over a damp swim-suit and flip-flops. You slowly walk into the kitchen and notice the sink is spilling over with dirty dishes and as you turn-around the children race by you still in their night-gowns laughing and screaming at the top of their lungs through the house. You pull yourself together and put on a big smile and your day BEGINS.
You pick up the children’s laundry and toss a load in the washer before you enter into the kitchen. Once you have tossed the laundry in the washer, you quickly make your way to the kitchen picking up stray toys along the way. You turn on the coffee maker to begin brewing coffee for the father before he leaves for work.
Next, you quickly start cleaning up the dishes and move into the living area and softly grab each child and guide them into their rooms to get dressed for the day. The children resist you and scream for their mommy and daddy, but no one hears them. You give them soft hugs and tell them everything is going to be okay and that they will have a fun-filled day with you. You remind them they need to get dressed first. They look at you with loving and trusting eyes and listen to you because they love you!
As you are dressing each child, you are greeted with a smiling and relieved mom who gives you a quick run down for the day of what needs to be done. The father comes rushing down the stairs and gives you a soft smile and greeting as he dashes off to work. The mother turns to you for help with the children as they jump up and down for attention while the mother kisses the father as he leaves for work.
The mother looks exhausted at 8:15 am as she tries to pull herself together for work. She looks to you for help, comfort, relief and a listening ear. You give her a soft smile back and tell her that you will take care of the children and home while she is gone for the day. You can tell by the smile on her face that she feels relieved and comforted by your presence in the home. The mother kisses the children goodbye as she heads out the door. The children stand by the window smiling back at the mom and waving good-bye.
The mother pulls out of the drive-way and you turn to the children and give them a run-down of the day. They look at you and smile with anticipation because you’ve planned out a fun-filled day! Just as you pick up one of the children to head outside, you receive a frantic call from the mom who forgot to tell you something important.
The mother begins to speak to you, but you can tell that she is frantic, frustrated and not really herself. As you stand there and listen to her speak, you hear her use words that sting your heart a little bit. You take a deep and calming breath and remind yourself that she’s probably stressed from her busy schedule. You shrug off the words and follow through with your duties. You assure the mother that you will take care of her pressing needs and you do! You take care of her needs because you love the family and taking care of her family is not a job to you, but a true calling in life. You love taking care of the families needs and serving them gives you JOY!
Oh dear sweet Nanny – You are an amazing part of the family. You have a fabulous assignment (the family) set right in front of you each day. You can truly alter someones day by making them smile, feel alive again, comforted and loved. You can truly be an extension of the family to others around you through loving the family.
You get to see the families true-life behind closed doors like no-one else. You are trusted with the families children, private things in the home, private conversations and just overall private life. You were divinely selected to not only take care of the home and children, but to be a true friend, and confidant to the mommy! Start looking at your job with eyes wide open, listening ears, a thoughtful and open heart! Be willing to go above and beyond your duties. BE MORE! Be a blessing to the family you serve each day. You have a job like no other on Earth!
God bless,
