mominthecity
02-24-2011, 03:16 PM
I recently went back to work part time, 3 days a week. We are lucky to have my family close by and one of my aunts (let's call her D)had volunteered to babysit while I am at work :)
D is retired, lives 15 min drive from us and had been babysitting for us before on several occasions.
She got very attached to DS, so we were thrilled when she suggested herself as our part time nanny and trust her completely.
I just found out that D actually has a close friend who works in our neighborhood as a nanny. My other aunt (D's sister) mentioned this kind of as a matter of factly during the recent family gathering, saying that D must be having a great time being able to visit her friend while she babysits.
I was a bit surprised, it's been weeks and D had never mentioned her nanny friend to us before. DH was not surprised, he kind of guessed it because D would always take DS on these really long walks, weather permitting. He suspected she had made friends with some other mother or caretaker in the neighborhood which made her look forward to longer outings, especially whenever I or DH worked from home.
I asked D about her friend and she confirmed that a long time friend of hers had been working as a nanny for a year already for a family that lives only 3 blocks away! She said DS loves to play with the little boy her friend babysits and it is good for him. I don’t disagree as I am glad DS has playdates to develop his social skills.
Recently, though D had started to ask me whether she can take DS to her friend's house to play during rainy weather, saying their house is bigger and has lots of space/toys and bigger yard than our modest rowhouse I guess. I was surprised since D had never asked me for permission before, why now?
Should I be concerned? DH says I am just being paranoid and there is nothing to worry about, it's a good thing DS will have a little friend in the neighborhood. I am not sure if I am supposed to go to the other boy's house to check on the condition of it, childproofing, etc. I don't know the parents and have no idea exactly where they live. I did meet D's friend and the little boy she babysits on the playground, but I don't know if I should insist on going into the house without getting an invitation from the parents. What if they don't know their house is used for playdates and would frown on it? What if they don't want to get to know us?
What worries me is why would D keep this a secret? Did she think I would say no? Do I have a reason to say no? What would you do?
Thank you for reading
D is retired, lives 15 min drive from us and had been babysitting for us before on several occasions.
She got very attached to DS, so we were thrilled when she suggested herself as our part time nanny and trust her completely.
I just found out that D actually has a close friend who works in our neighborhood as a nanny. My other aunt (D's sister) mentioned this kind of as a matter of factly during the recent family gathering, saying that D must be having a great time being able to visit her friend while she babysits.
I was a bit surprised, it's been weeks and D had never mentioned her nanny friend to us before. DH was not surprised, he kind of guessed it because D would always take DS on these really long walks, weather permitting. He suspected she had made friends with some other mother or caretaker in the neighborhood which made her look forward to longer outings, especially whenever I or DH worked from home.
I asked D about her friend and she confirmed that a long time friend of hers had been working as a nanny for a year already for a family that lives only 3 blocks away! She said DS loves to play with the little boy her friend babysits and it is good for him. I don’t disagree as I am glad DS has playdates to develop his social skills.
Recently, though D had started to ask me whether she can take DS to her friend's house to play during rainy weather, saying their house is bigger and has lots of space/toys and bigger yard than our modest rowhouse I guess. I was surprised since D had never asked me for permission before, why now?
Should I be concerned? DH says I am just being paranoid and there is nothing to worry about, it's a good thing DS will have a little friend in the neighborhood. I am not sure if I am supposed to go to the other boy's house to check on the condition of it, childproofing, etc. I don't know the parents and have no idea exactly where they live. I did meet D's friend and the little boy she babysits on the playground, but I don't know if I should insist on going into the house without getting an invitation from the parents. What if they don't know their house is used for playdates and would frown on it? What if they don't want to get to know us?
What worries me is why would D keep this a secret? Did she think I would say no? Do I have a reason to say no? What would you do?
Thank you for reading