Hello! I decided that this would be the best way to document my adventures as a new, live-in nanny for the Taylor family. Mostly because, I'm really behind in my journal, and I have a feeling that I'm going to be learning a ton, so I can just type what I learn, almost everyday of being here. So....let me tell you about how this all came about (:
I moved to St. George, Utah after school ended in April to live with my grandma. I was hoping to find a job and just bum off her for a few months, but...the economy is not great right now, and so no where was hiring. I went all over St George asking for applications, and then I would turn them in, and they'd either tell me that they weren't hiring, or they wouldn't call me back. I had a total of one whomping interview, and so...that night, I put my name and contact information on a website called
care.com. I said I would be available from 9 until 10 everyday but Sunday. And, I was so discouraged, and I didn't know if anything would become of it. But I thought "what the heck? I'll give it a whirl."
The day after my interview at an old folks home to be a server, I was getting ready for the day when I got a text from a number I didn't recognize, saying "Alyssa-I got your # on care.com. We are a st george family w/ 2 boys ages 5 and 7. We need a live in nanny. We are LDS and very easy-going. If this is something you would be interested in, pleast let me know. Thank you." So I said I was very interested, and we set up the interview at their home. I had no idea what I was in for, when I drove there, and tried to park in the circle they live on. I can't park...at anytime of the day, and so it was just great watching me try. (If anyone was) Anyway...I drove around the circle like...8 times trying to park (good thing I was 10 minutes early!!) before I went up to their door.
I thought I would just be a live in nanny, and the parents would both be working all the time. When I knocked on the door, their current nanny, Hillary answered the door. She was really cute, and very nice. The two boys were watching TV, and Hillary started to make dinner, and the boys went outside to play. I started chatting with Hillary, and she said she really loved being their nanny. She was leaving because her mom lives in Orem, and she wanted to be closer to her. She said the boys were well behaved, and that she was really sad that she had to leave. She even put off telling them about it for about 3 weeks, she said. Little did I know what the parents would be like..
They are both such amazing people! The mom came in from the garage, in a wheel chair, and she shook my hand..she didn't have fingers. She told me that they usually made dinner, and having "Hilly" make it was rare...weird, even. We went into their office, and I handed her my resume. The first thing listed on it was that I babysat an autistic child once a week for about 4 years. She asked if it was challenging. I said that it kind of was, but I didn't really have to do much. She seemed impressed, and then she saw that I helped with the Special Olympics, and hello...she's in a wheelchair. Of course she thought that was awesome.
We talked some more, and her husband came in. They told me about how she had gotten sick, and how her oldest kid, Sam, had to be pulled out of kindergarten, and how he felt abandoned when she was in the hospital for 8 months. They said they wanted someone long term, so that the kids didn't get attached to someone, and then have to say goodbye. I told them I was still planning on going back to school in the fall, maybe. I wasn't really sure. She said that she went off feelings, and sometimes, she knew that was dumb to admit. But she said she really liked me. Her husband said that usually, her first impressions were always spot on.
They asked me when I could start if I was offered the job, and I said whenever. Then, I went up with the dad (Tony) and he showed me the room I would be staying in.
I left beaming. I called my mom and told her I really really really wanted to take it. Because again....no where was hiring, and it was decent enough pay ($300/week. Which, is amazing to me)
Embarrassing as this sounds, I started making a list of things that I wanted to buy once I had enough money to do so. That list grew...exponentially that night.
A few days later, I was at Costco with my aunt, and we were just talking about it. She said that it sounded like I pretty much had the job. But I didn't want to get my hopes up to high. We decided I needed to do something drastic, to make an (even better) impression. I texted the mom, and told her that I was still interested, and I could move in with them if it was offered to me (I told them at the first interview that I wasn't sure if it'd be cool with my grandma being the reason I was down here). She texted me back very soon, and said that she was wondering if I was going to go to school full time in the fall, or if I could be with them for at least a couple of years. I said that I could probably get my schedule to coordinate with theirs, so she said she would talk to Tony and see.
About two nights later, I was laying in bed reading, when I got a text from her saying that they just wanted to give me a heads up, that I was still their top pick, but they had promised two other interviews, and so they figured that they owed that to them before making a final decision, but they would know for sure the next night, around the same time (10:35). I was antsy all day!! I was trying to find things to keep me entertained, but it was hard to do at my grandma's. So I went over to my aunt's condo. We decided we would go to Target and I could add things to my list mentally of things I would buy when I was making $300 a week. The day still, seemed to just drag on and on. I ended up staying at my aunt's condo that night, and my phone was almost dead (thanks to a boy who knew my phone was dying, and that it needed to have battery power, and my charger wasn't with me...) so, I turned it off for a while, and he started calling again. I was on facebook chatting with Laura, and she said she hoped I got it, and she had her fingers crossed for me.
I didn't get a text that night, but later on the next day, I did. Jeane wanted to know if there was a time that day that I could come talk to them. I said I was available whenever. So we decided on 7. Yep. During the Biggest Loser finale. My aunt told me to say that I had to watch that, but we could talk during the commercials. I just went over, and we took a tour of their house, and I got really excited about it. I talked to Laura before the interview, and then after, but much later. I went straight to my aunt's house, and almost peed my pants I was so excited!
My mom was't thrilled, so I held off on telling her. And when I finally did, it didn't go over very well. And I told my grandma when my car was almost all the way packed up, and I was just getting ready to leave. Good thing, they live less than a mile away from my grandma.
My dad also went over to meet them when he was down for Memorial Day, and he was impressed. It was crazy...she told us about how she got sick, and what it's been like living without feet and fingers. We also looked at the room, and they told me they would buy a new TV, and a new desk. So, I'm pretty settled into my little apartment/nook above their garage! And I am really loving it!
