Eva, the 31-year-old actress, and blogger, was in for a shock when she rushed into her baby, Major’s nursery. As his night nurse had fallen asleep with him in her arms, he accidentally slipped and fell on the floor, head first. He had cracked his head on the hardwood floor and had suffered bleeding on his brain, Eva mentioned in a gut-wrenching post on her blog.
The next two days were no less than a nightmare for Susan Sarandon’s daughter and her entire family. Post the emergency care and a series of tests, the baby was declared to be absolutely fine, despite the fracture and the bleeding, and there was no brain damage.
“By the grace of all of his many angels, and every God one cars to pray to, MAJOR IS FINE. Completely fine,” revealed Eva in her post.
She went on to add that, “The nurse is no longer working for our family, though we forgive her. And even though I finally made peace with the fact that this freak accident could not have been avoided by me, it has continued to effect (sic) me to my core and in all aspects of my daily life.”
While the baby is fine and the family is out of a gruelling trauma, there is something that’s bothering me. It’s the manner in which Eva’s heartfelt personal post garnered so many hate-filled comments. Comments like ‘Why are you giving birth if you’re not interested in being a mother!?’ filled her Instagram post.
Again, Eva responded with utmost calm and compassion even to the naysayers, “I sincerely wish that 2017 brings you enough self-love and confidence that you no longer feel the need to tear down another person during their darkest moment.”
Continue reading for some tips on how to hire a nanny for your baby.
Being judgemental about someone’s parenting skills and choices comes quite easy to some of us and that’s disturbing. Eva and her husband felt the need to have a night nanny. So what? The incident could have happened in the hands of either of the parents as well. What would the naysayers spew then?
Like Eva expressed in her blog, “Putting your child into the hands of someone else can be hard for a parent to begin with, but once something like this happens, it can be almost impossible to trust that your baby will be safe with anyone else.” So what do you keep in mind while hiring a nanny for your baby? Here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Do a thorough reference check. Insist on getting references and make those calls. Check with multiple families before narrowing down on a nanny.
- Background checks are essential. After a satisfying reference check, do a background check as well. Just because her previous clients were happy with her work, doesn’t mean you do not check for past criminal records, if any.
- Make it official. Put it down on paper and make it official. Work on that agreement and include things like pay, work hours, holidays, specific chores, can she have guests home, etc.
- Set timelines and expectations in place. Make sure there is no confusion on what is expected of the nanny. Is she supposed to strictly take care of the baby or will she be required to do baby-related chores as well?
- Try her, then hire her. Test her skills for a few days before hiring her. Does your baby feel comfortable around her? Do you get the right vibes from her? Most parents can figure out when the nanny is putting up a cordial front. So test her out.
Hope these basic pointers help you get the right help for you and your baby. And here’s to some non-judgmental and guilt-free parenting!