When a nanny leaves....

This is something that I think doesn't really get thought about much at all when the working relationship is in full swing, but maybe it is something we should talk about more often?

In this post I am looking at when one side decides the time has come to an end, rather than when it's a disciplinary decision.

When the nanny or parent decides to terminate the working contract, it is not an easy decision, there will be a lot of thought that goes into it, and possibly a few emotional moments too!

I can't speak as a parent, but can as a nanny.  It is also something that I have been going through very recently!!

I won't go into too many details for privacy reasons, but I have been with my current job for 2.5 years, and at the beginning of 2015 began to think for various reasons that maybe this year was a good time to "put my toes in the water" only, what happened I was not prepared for! Within 10 days I had 5 interviews, and before those days the likely hood of being offered a job, with some hesitancy I would take it, but then another opportunity came up for me to go for an interview, where I had before said no, because the other job was looking promising!

In that short space of time I had gone from, let's have a look, to slotting in interviews. This is no mean feat as a nanny, and to be honest, quite a bit harder when you live with the family.

The range of emotions went from being quite pleased that people thought I was worth interviewing, to do I really want a change..... The reality is though, once you have contacted agencies and sent your cv out for families to look at, you have committed yourself to moving on and leaving the children you care for behind.

I had an amazing feeling of guilt and deceitfulness, while I carried on with every day tasks yet had messages about moving on.

Then the message came, "you have a new job if you want it" ecstatic that someone wants to employ me, nervous about telling my current employers and a deep sadness and guilt that I am walking away from two lovely children, that we have built up a loving relationship and as they regularly tell me, "we're a good team"

So I have 11 days left, before I walk out of the everyday lives of these children, and here is the thing.
I will miss them terribly, for the last couple of years I have been with these children 60 hours a week, it is not just a job in this sense, it is a relationship I leave, but yet I know it is the right thing to do.

I believe we should be more open about our feelings, it's not easy. We know we will miss the children, we know we shall have moments of sadness, but I think we should talk about these feelings more, so that we as nannies can support one another and our families and friends can know what we're experiencing.

I am going to enjoy the next 11 days and make the most of our time together, but for now I need to pack!!

Goodnight

Thoughts on this post would be good!!!