Separation Anxiety

It's not unusual for babies to develop separation anxiety and Collin gets it sometimes. Certainly not from being separated from me - I'm just the goofy guy that holds him when he cries and makes funny faces - and it's not even really separation from Andrea but rather the holy boob that he misses. But I now know that parent's can get it too. My job requires me to travel quite a lot. The upside is that when I am not traveling I work from home, but a couple weeks ago I had to leave town for the first time. I didn't really want to leave them, but Andrea and I had not been working since he was born and I was pretty sure that if one of us didn't go back that sooner or later they would turn off the electricity, or even worse, the internet connection. So I did not put up a fight up a fight and left for a 3 day trip to San Francisco. Andrea, her dad and Collin took me to the airport and I came to the realization that there is a real possibility that our son will grow up thinking that his dad works at the airport.

Fortunately Andrea's parents, sister and her 2 kids had agreed to schedule a visit from the Midwest to overlap with my trip to SF. They were here for almost 2 weeks and we had great visit. The kids (9 and 11) both stink at monopoly but are otherwise awesome and we had a blast swimming, playing catch, popping balloons and terrorizing the poor cat. Andrea's parents got to meet their newest grandchild (#8) and they were a huge help holding down the fort both before I left and while I was gone. I can't imagine what it must have been like to raise 4 kids during the 60s and 70s before they invented Chinese take-out and the internet. But they obviously knew what they were doing and were great with Collin. We also had the courage to venture out of the house with the baby several times while they were here. Collin has been to our neighborhood pool and Barton Springs now although he has not been swimming yet. I'm not sure when it is OK to teach a baby to swim, but I thought we should wait a bit.

I was OK. It was tough to leave, but once I got on the plane I was back in work mode and things were fine. The bigger test is about to come. I have a LOT of traveling coming up this fall and Andrea has decided that she definitely wants to go back to work on September 2nd. She'll only go back 1/2 time to start and see how it goes, but that still means we have to get a nanny. We are thinking 8AM-1PM M-F, so Andrea can work from 9-Noon then hopefully do some work from home in the afternoons. We've already been through one nanny. She came in for a couple of test days 2 weeks ago then another couple of days this week. Things did not work out for a few reasons. So the nanny hunt is on! We have lots of books on parenting (ALL of which contradict the previous one) and many have advice on hiring a nanny. These are the primary things you should look for:

1. She should be someone you "click" with and generally enjoy spending time with.
2. She should share your parenting philosophy. But since we don't really have one that is sort of nebulous.
3. She should have lots of experience with children of the same age, have CPR training and have taken lots of classes on child care.
4. She should be energetic, fun, caring and respectful for how we want to raise our child.
5. She should enjoy house work, be a good cook, take care of the pets, anticipate what Collin needs and be able to read Andrea's mind.

The only problem is that:
1. This person does not exist
2. If she did, she would be making more money than either of us. and...
3. Andrea would almost certainly leave me for her.

So that leaves us with reality. We have to find someone that:
1. When we leave them alone together there is a very good chance that both the nanny and Collin will survive and things will be more or less how we left them.
2. Someone that reduces our stress rather than adding to it.

But I don't really think this is that tough of a gig. My philosophy is that if you just love him and feed him... the rest will sort itself out.