Child Care and Food Allergies - Chapter 2

It has been quite a while since I updated our child care situation. For those of you who don't remember, check out my fascinating post here about our present Au Pair Jan , our previous Au Pair nightmare, and our search for future child care.

Time has marched on as it always does, and Jan is set to go home in about a month. After much searching, interviewing and reading between the lines, I think we found someone who will hopefully work out. How do I know they will work out??? I have NO CLUE!!! and

I AM SCARED OUT OF MY MIND!!!!

There is only so much interviewing you can do over the phone, so much staring at photos they send, or reading their reasons why they want to join your family.

Sure I got rid of the ones who were obviously not going to work. One applicant emailed me a list of over 20 questions to answer including questions about our social life, and child rearing background. uuuuhhh no. We were interested in another one, but she told us that she could not give us any decision for a month since she was waiting to talk to another family. We decided we were not willing to wait for a month for her to talk to another family, and a month later when she contacted us to tell us she wanted to be our Au Pair, she just could not understand that we were not still waiting for her. I wonder why.........

Of course all this is complicated by life threatening food allergies. I tell the person as clearly as I can that we allow absolutely no nuts in your house. However, I am never really sure whether they understand that this means all nuts in everything, even things made in a facility with nuts. I say no eggs, but I don't know if they understand that means not only no omelets for breakfast, but you get to learn a whole new way to make baked goods. (hey, have you tried this great cake, take a box of cake mix and a can of soda......) I think I did a smart thing when Jan came in taking her to the Allergist with us when Conor was getting tested for his flu shot. It kind of got the point across that this is a serious condition, not an arbitrary hatred of evil legumes. Spending an afternoon staring at a child waiting for a reaction with epi-pen in hand is a learning experience for everyone.

Our new Au Pair is from Colombia, and fulfills my list of things I have decided an Au Pair must have. (must have graduated from college, must have siblings, etc) By the way, I have already heard every Colombian drug joke there is, including one from Nana who when hearing our new Au Pair was from Colombia stated in her little Irish accent "Make sure you check what she is planting in the garden." Gee thanks Nana, I feel better now.

But hopefully she will work out. Everyone will be excited that she speaks Spanish since we are so immersed in it due to the Spanish Immersion Kindergarten program. Maybe she can decipher Natalie's new language, SpaNatalie (a combination of Spanish and gibberish that Natalie makes up and talks in all day long to the frustration of everyone around her).

So we wait. Tune in in a few weeks to see how our story ends.