Last night, I did something new for the first time:  I made dinner.  I’m only kidding.. sort of.

For the first three years of our marriage, Papa Jumper and I had pretty predictable schedules.  We both worked full time jobs, had breakfast and coffee together in the morning, and took turns making dinner at home in the evenings. After dinner, I’d work in my studio while Papa Jumper would relax, go for a bike ride, or play his X-Box in our game room.  Our schedule was pretty much the same while I was pregnant, but after Baby Jumper came along everything changed. Papa Jumper still works his regular 8-4:30pm job, while I’m a WAHM mom. My business has been flourishing before my eyes — a true blessing!! — but I’m finding myself pulled in too many directions and working too late at night.

Being a mom is hard.  Being a designer is hard.  Coupled with my type-A personality and my desire to please everyone, I have little to no family time, absolutely no personal time, and I find myself answering emails during the very short naps Baby Jumper takes instead of catching up on sleep.  And forget date night.  I couldn’t tell you the last time we did something by ourselves.

My frustrations forced us to make a decision:  we decided to hire a part-time nanny.

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It was a tough decision to make.  At first, it made me feel like I was a failure, like I couldn’t juggle everything at once. And maybe if I just tried harder, I wouldn’t be so stressed out.  Maybe if I wasn’t so easily distracted and would really focus during my work time, I’d get a lot more accomplished.  But let’s be real: who am I kidding?  There simply isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done that I want and need to do.

It took us a few weeks to find a reliable caregiver.  We asked through word of mouth, but found people who wanted too much money or didn’t meet our qualifications (had their own reliable transportation, CPR certified, smoke-free, able to work in a pet-friendly environment, and available during the day). I searched an online caregiver site, but wasn’t able to find anyone who met our qualifications. On a total whim, my mom asked my 18 year old cousin if she knew anyone looking for part-time summer work.  My cousin gave her co-worker my phone number, and we interviewed the girl earlier last week.  She’s a young college student working toward a degree in sports medicine, is CPR certified, and lives locally (ironically, she knows half my neighbors!).

When we met Nanny Jumper, it was an instant click.  We interviewed her and asked super important questions like is she CPR certified? What are your references? Nickelback or Nirvana? For the record, she’s CPR certified, and sadly, she did choose Nickelback. But she told us her dad listens to Nirvana, which either makes him a cool dad, or totally just revealed our ages. We didn’t hold it against her and gave her the job. It’s a part-time job — she’s here maybe 8-10 hours a week — and I’m home while she’s here, so we were OK with a younger person being Chloe’s caretaker.

Nanny Jumper is here today. I’m catching up on work, and have somehow managed to whittle my inbox down to 6 emails in the last two hours. I hear nothing but giggles from Baby Jumper in the other room, and can’t help but smile myself.  My baby is being well taken care of.  I’m meeting my wonderful clients’ needs. My pile of laundry is in the washing machine, and I’m sipping coffee while I blog.  I’ll bet you dinner is on the table when Papa Jumper gets home, too.

Admitting that I needed help was a really tough pill to swallow, but I’m so happy that we made this decision.  Having Nanny Jumper help us means I no longer have to work in the evenings or weekends, and that means I can get extra snuggle time with Baby Jumper and Papa Jumper.

Do you have a babysitter or anyone else who helps you with childcare?