Every New Beginning Starts With an Ending

I haven’t been able to change my Facebook status, it’s just too hard to see it staring me in the face, but after 3 months short of 31 years, I am officially retired.
I spent just 3 months short of 22 years with the same family. I had no idea in 1984 that this career was going to be so fulfilling, so life changing and so much fun.
If I had to sum it up in 2 words I would say “Incredibly Blessed”
I had not 1 but 2 great families.
My first nanny family I stayed with for 8 years and when the children got to be old enough not to need a nanny anymore, I moved on to my next family.
Leaving my first family was my inspiration for Nanny Transitions. My nanny training had prepared me for every kind of situation, every kind of emergency, every age group, every social situation but nothing prepared me for leaving a family with 2 kids that owned a piece of my heart and soul. As I went through that very difficult transition I learned so much about myself, about life and about how as nannies we grieve the loss of those children in our lives just as we grieve any kind of death or loss.

I realized that if this transition was this hard for me, it had to be equally hard for other nannies so I developed a workshop to help nannies know the signs a job is ending, to help the parents prepare the children and support them through the transition and most importantly how to take good care of yourself as you go through this transition.

When you stay with a family for over 20 years the difference is that you stay “through the transitions” My charges transitioned from me working 5 days a week, to 4 days a week to

3 days a week, to not working in the summer, to 2 days a week and finally 1 day a week.
When my youngest charge got her drivers license last year it was always understood that it would be my last year with this family but then those years went by way too fast and we discussed that maybe I would do every other week this year.
My husband and I are starting a new chapter in our lives and I made the very difficult decision a few weeks ago not to return to work.
I think my nanny family was a little shocked but my decision surprised even me. I am very at peace with this decision because about 6 years into this job, my boss made me a promise, she promised me that she would never take her children out of my life. If you are a nanny, you know what an incredible promise that is for an employer to make concerning their children, and I could never thank her enough for this gift.
After I had been with this family for about 10 years I realized one day that even though this job would end one day, our relationship was going to last forever. We had been through all kinds of life experiences, good, bad, happy, sad and we always found a way to work through our issues so that everyone felt like they got some of what they wanted.
I will never forget the night that my employers interviewed me, we had discussed that I would be willing to do Household management, errands etc and the mom turned to her husband, and she said “Honey…I’m going to get a wife!”
Great nanny /employer relationships are very much like a successful marriage. They require all those key elements, of mutual respect, good communication, willingness to go the extra mile, give and take and the ability to know that you can work through things together.
I could not have asked for a better family, and they are my forever family. That will never change.

Nanny Transitions helped me prepare for this major change in my life.
At one point when I was in a bit of denial, I realized that it was time to take the advice that I give to nannies on a daily basis.
Trust your gut, watch for the signs, and most importantly remember that Love looks forward……………….always.

One day as I struggled with my decision….it occurred to me that you can’t have a new beginning without an ending. I had to let go of what was to move on to what will be.
My heart is open to what comes next. Nanny Transitions will certainly continue to be an important part of my life.
Terry and I are making big changes in our life this year but I believe with all my heart
“The best is yet to come”

Glenda

Touched by a Nanny: Cindy Wilkinson

Touched by Cindy Wilkinson

Submitted by :  Stephanie Felzenberg

When it comes to nannies there are only a handful of ladies I consider mentors, as true professionals, and as the type of caregiver I strive to be like. There are even less I would hire in a heartbeat to be my nanny if I were a mother.

From what I can tell, Cindy Wilkinson  is the perfect nanny.  She is passionate about her career and the children in her care. She gives 100 percent of her heart, time, love, and energy to those in her care.

Then, there is her music. Music can be inspirational and fun for anyone at any age, but especially for children. Her musical albums,
"Jumping Up to the Moon" and "Jumping Down the Road" http://www.cduniverse.com/sresult.asp?qs=m852360 are excellent and all of my charges love her interactive songs. But to see her in action -- singing with kids -- is magical. I emphasize she sings with children (not to them) because she gets them laughing, singing, jumping, and dancing.

As a nanny, Cindy is the best role model and mentor of a caring, professional, and passionate caregiver. Working as a nanny is truly her calling and she is an inspiration to other nannies. Any family would be lucky to have such a kind and loving caregiver as their nanny. I am lucky to call her my mentor and friend.
If your life has been touched by a special nanny, send your submission to
nannytransitions(at)gmail(dot)com

Touched by a Nanny named Sara Green

Touched by a Nanny Named Sara Green

Written by Greta Schraer
Pictures shared with permission. 

I wish the local Cincinnati nannies had the benefit of knowing more national nannies, and vice versa. I so desire to see each excellent nanny respected and appreciated. Truth is we all deserve to be honored for specific and tangible things done to impact the lives of children. But today, I want to share with you an unknown hero. I want her to represent all of you that stand in the shadows, serving, with very little glory. (May your moment come, too.)

Meet Sara Green: A red head beauty with style galore. An itty-bitty dog lover, gold spray painter, and wine appreciator. She is a talented photographer and even before I met her in person (at Target by surprise) she let me into her life through pictures. She began nannying part-time while studying interior design, but she quickly found fulfillment and purpose and decided to make it a career.

We first connected online through CincyNanny, our community here. Her recent job is where I have watched her shine. She recalls the chemistry she had as she interviewed and felt instant trust. There was a sweet bond between them. Even as first time parents, her employers made her feel confident and capable. Sara has cared for twin girls L & K for 5 years now and tells me about the first days of setting routines and loving those babes. As the girls grew it was navigating discipline and timeouts. L is very self-driven, kind, comforting, and laid back. K is the spitfire, go-getter, sporty, funny, but also caring and sensitive. She loves them both unconditionally, appreciates their differences and sees them as individuals that need to be loved and disciplined differently. She is wise and in-tune.  Sara has routinely ended days with conversations with the girls’ parents. She is part of their village. Valued. Needed.  They have been generous with her and lavish her with gifts. She also recalls a hard week when they referred to her as “our anchor”.  As I hear her talk about her job, she beams. Radiates. She loves them and knows their love in return.  

To know Sara is to see love. She loves easily and loves strong. She is solid, faithful, a constant that has taught her girls and community around what it means to know trust. Her words are careful and thoughtful. She is open. She is easy to read and easy to know. It’s no wonder why she has found a solid place in this family.

This summer marks the end of her job. The family has transferred to Switzerland and asked her to join them as they make the move. Sara is there right now, transitioning her girls to their new life. It’s been a whirlwind, but she takes pleasure in the adventure. She knows her role, even as it comes to completion: to see them settled.  To feel the peace seeing them start their next season. I watch her live for each moment. She captures the joy in the girls’ eyes; I see it an ocean away in pictures. I believe their joy is impacted by the years of love, care, and trust she has planted. Those seeds will continue to reap a harvest throughout their lives.  They talk about saying goodbye and missing each other. L & K speak love and Sara soaks in every ounce of it. Though she won’t see them daily like she has, she will always know them…that is for sure.

Sara has already found her next job with a newborn and in just a few weeks that new adventure starts. Even as things change she knows that she is in this career long-term. She is one of those nannies that just emulate the role. This little one now gets to have Sara as her hero too. What a lucky little girl.

Written by Greta Schraer
Pictures shared with permission.

Touched by Jenn Gay

Submitted by Carli Lintemuth

When I started my current position I was a bit nervous. I had never worked with teens, how was this going to work? Would they hate me…would they be miserable, hormonal, teens filled with angst?!

But I had a lifeline, someone to hold my hand. You see, Jenn Gay has been with her nanny family for 22 years. You read that right, TWENTY TWO years! She has been with Alex, Kyle, and Marisa from birth through college. Jenn is a shining example of the kind of relationship you can have with your older charges. To hear her excitement when Alex comes home from college, or when Marisa FaceTimes her after a trip to the mall, or just sharing a meal with Kyle and his girlfriend. Jenn has been a wonderful mentor to me, showing me how to develop and cultivate solid relationships with my teen charges.

These days Jenn does’t work much as a nanny, her career has shifted. But as we all know, the title of “nanny” doesn’t necessarily describe a job you do, but rather it describes the person you are. 

Jenn has shown me that while jobs change, and relationships evolve, the special bond between a nanny and her charges is something that can last a lifetime.


If your life has been touched by a nanny, please send your submission to
nannytransitions(at)g(mail)dot(com)

Touched by a Nanny Tara Lindsey

Touched by Tara Lindsey
Submitted by Beth Taylor

When I was starting out in the nanny industry, I was really clueless about a lot of things. I joined nanny groups online and came across a great group of nannies in my area.
 After some time, and getting married, my husband became a truck driver. It was my nanny community that helped me.

 It wasn't until I was pregnant and my husband was away 5 days a week that I really got to know Tara more as a nanny. She had worked as a birth doula before. I remember being 28 weeks and thinking I was alone when I suddenly had super bad Braxton hicks contractions. She assured me that they were just my body's way of preparing for labor down the road. When I got closer to my due date and worried about my husband being home, I remember posting one night about being sent to L&D for observation, I immediately got a text from her asking if I wanted her to come sit with me. I felt like I had a true friend in her.

 My daughter Abby came a couple weeks later, and she came with her nanny kids to visit me. She has been a great influence in my life since my daughter was born now 3.5 years ago. I wish I could tell you how many times I have second guessed myself as a mom, and she has provided sound advice, but It's too many to count. 

She really is a true gem in this industry! thank you Tara Lindsey!!!


Has your life been touched by the kindness of a nanny?
We would love to hear your story, email it to nannytransitions(at)g(mail).com

Touched by Donna Robinson

Touched by Donna Robinson

            Submitted by Kim Dillon

I am honored to share with the world, how a prized and precious Nanny has touched my life and career.

Enter “ Donna Robinson”… aka The Traveling Nanny, on behalf I write this loving blog/note.

I met Donna 14 years ago, at an INA Conference. Little did I know, the organization assigned Donna and I to speak together at the same workshop. Speaking engagements are not exactly my forte, and I was quick to share this with Donna Robinson.

However, being coupled with Donna in the same room blessed me beyond belief. We had an instant rapport with one another.

I clearly remember turning to her and saying, “You go first!” and she did.

As Donna spoke, with such enjoyable humor, and delivered the message amazingly, I knew I wanted her to be my nanny friend forever. I also learned something very valuable from Donna Robinson that day… “ Private Victories precedes Public Victories.”

Save me Donna, and she did!

This blog/note is about Donna Robinson, but it is about much more than that. As I chronicle the past 14 years, (and counting)

of friendship, mentoring, guidance, advisor, cheerleader, sisterhood and buddy, she is so much more. I am especially grateful to her.

A memory of light so many years ago… and today, a beaming light - beaming strong! Thank you Donna Robinson, for being one of my earth angels and guiding spirit. God sure knew what He was doing when He let us cross paths.

Your Texas Friend,

Miss Kimmie

              Kim Dillon
         babykeepers.com      

Touched by a Nanny: Angelita Fechino

As told by and to Donna Robinson:I first met Angelita Fechino at a NannyPalooza conference which is a small conference where you get a chance to really get to know each other.  She was sitting with a group and when she said she was a newborn care specialist out of New York, we struck up a friendship as I am in New York quite often.  What drew me to her was the discussion on the conferences needed more diversity and how many do not understand the barriers of Hispanic nannies.  That stuck in my brain and later talking to my daughter she reminded me that we do not have to think about those things being born white middleclass. We don’t often go out of our way to understand another culture.  I didn’t want to be one of those people. I knew this was a very special person who would help me understand.  We had a lot in common because we both had our own business and we both liked to think “out of the box”. The next time I was in New York we met for lunch and that was the start of a lasting friendship. Her story is inspiring, but her determination and her commitment to her dreams brought her a long way and I want to share her story so that she can be an inspiration to you as well.  .As a teenager, Angelita felt she wanted to follow her mother’s footsteps in the medical field working with newborns.  Her mom discouraged her as she felt Angelita was just too sensitive to deal with the life and death of the neonatal ward.  Her family was big on education so she went to college and got her BA in Foreign Language Ed and Translation and Interpreting focused on English and French.  She graduated with honors.  She said she was a people pleaser and struggled with the self confidence that would have allowed her to stand up for what was really going to make her happy. Angelita is going to share her story  of how she went into the business world and became very successful but still broke away to start a career working as a nanny with newborns an later a Newborn Care Specialist before she even knew that career had a name. Angelita says:While in college in Chile in 2000, I got a job in a hotel as a Phone operator, then I was moved to Front Desk. But I was too short so they moved me to sales which wasn’t my thing! I moved within the company to become a Housekeeping Supervisor but was moved back into the Business Centre (that was a full state of the art office facility and it was like being personal/executive assistant of different guests). That Hotel was next to the Government Palace so it was pretty iconic to work there. While working there I met an executive for Sam Ash Music and started working assisting in different cultural matters and coordinating meetings and things while they were doing a Market Research over there. Then they brought me to Miami to do translation into Spanish of some of their catalogues. I then started to come to the US occasionally on vacation and decided I wanted to move here. It didn't happen for a while as I started working in the Mining Industry (main activity in Chile) as a Translator and Interpreter and Executive Assistant. I got to meet many wonderful people. My real passion was put aside, which was still working with pregnancy, birth and newborns. I was an only child and didn't really have any major experience until my best friend got pregnant. I fell in love with that special time and I "doula-ed" her without even knowing that was a thing (that was 16 yrs ago when I was 20 at the time). I wanted to be around newborns, I wanted to tend to moms and I knew other than doing it on-the-side in Chile, if I wanted to really become a professional I had to move to the US. (Australia and Canada also crossed my mind).I moved to the US in 2007 as I applied to work at Marriott online and they called me, I explained I was willing to move and they said it was up to me to figure out how to do it. I went to the US Embassy and showed them my job offer and proof I could afford to move. I quit my job, gave away most of my things. One month later I arrived in New Jersey and started working the overnight shift at the front desk of the Marriott. I also started to work as a nanny to a newborn during the day. Even though I got promoted to Front Office Supervisor/Overnight Manager in less than 6 months I never thought I wanted to stay on that career path.  I was becoming more and more convinced than ever that newborns was "my thing".” Donna Robinson says:Can you imagine how difficult it is to give up a successful career to go into a field where you never know when you will have a job? She said the first couple of years she worked mainly on instinct and read everything she could that would guide her. She realized she needed more education to be the best and did a NCS course in NY. She felt that the course was lacking and brought nothing new to her knowledge base. She felt she could not call herself a NCS until she had the correct training. How is that for integrity?She said that while she was attending trainings and interacting with others in her field, she felt out of place.  She respected their views but realized she didn’t always share their views on newborns. So she did what she was best at—seeking out education that would enable her to be the best.I am so impressed with her continued desire to educate herself.  After the INA conference last year she became a Happiest Baby Educator. She also had become deeply interested in being a Doula and started training with a wonderful Dona International Doula. When she told her she believed “Doulas are born, not made”, she knew at last she had found her calling. She started with a passion to seek out training.  She did Labor and Postpartum Doula Trainings, she became a Lamaze Educator and completed training as a Lactation Counselor. She found a glitch when she failed one of the tests but she hasn’t given up and will continue to study “till she makes it!She said that many times as she attended trainings and interacting with others, she has felt out of place as she didn't always share some of the common beliefs others in the field held, but she respected other's points of views as she said “we're all individuals after all.”She also became a CPST. She did a seminar in Postpartum psychosis and several other webinars in many other subjects related and is currently attending an international lactation conference online.She did training as a Labor doula with Prodoula as well and is planning on doing the Sacred Pregnancy. She offers this advice:  ‘I say do your research and find the right institution that shares your vision or train with them all and find your own values”.Sometimes I get dizzy listening to her next “goal”!  She is just so amazing with her deserve to always be learning.  For example, she said she will also be training as placenta encapsulation specialist and belly binding and several other trainings this year. She does this she says “while working a lot of hours every week, trying to keep my sanity and my family together and my beloved doggies well-cared for”..She told me she feels blessed by her journey.I knew she had a bad accident in 2009 where she was told she might not walk afterwards. But after months of hard physical therapy and a cervical replacement later, she said she was happy to be standing and keep moving. In three months she was back working with a newborn even though her mobility and strength were very limited.She said that life was never be the same after her accident.  She still struggled with chronic pain. She said it was very difficult to “clean herself from pain management meds”. For a couple of years they were the reason she could keep working and moving forward as pain was excruciating.She admits she had to break some barriers as sometimes she felt judged just for been Hispanic. She felt at times the pay offered was lower than it would have been if she had not been Hispanic. Yet, rather than being bitter, she feels she can help others by continuing to break down this barrier.  Her optimism has always amazed me.She found that by offering herself as a volunteer in a Hospital, she got the opportunity to start a very intense Internship. This would lead to a part-time job preparing material for the childbirth department and she started teaching classes to expecting parents. She found she truly loved teaching. She said, “I have put my heart and soul into learning and I feel honored to be able to give back to others. I love that I can help them gain the confidence they need as new parents. We talked about our friendship and she told me I was someone she looked up to as she found me strong and honest and that we share ideas that might not be industry standard but that we stay true to ourselves. I just kept thinking, “my dear YOU are the inspiration!”I am always touched by Angelita.  We meet when I am in NY and she brings a smile to my face as we share and laugh together.  She touches my heart and makes me so proud of our profession.In closing, I asked her has she met all of her goals now. “Well, she said, I want to become a professional trainer/educator and travel to South America and other places someday. I would like to open their minds and hearts to do some things differently than what is now neonatal care.  I want to become a mother more than I want to breathe but only God knows if it will ever happen...I want to keep growing as a human being and I want to always be able to be amazed by small things.”I ask you now, are you not touched by this nanny? 

If your life has been touched by a special nanny, please send your submission to nannytransitions(at)g(mail)dot(com)