In New York there are not many babysitters, at least not in our neighborhood. No, instead there are nannies. No youth at church, no teenagers in our building. None to be found. New Yorkers hire nannies to watch their children while they step out day or night. This being said, I have been on a desperate search for an adequate nanny from the moment I set foot in Brooklyn. I love going out on dates with Blake and couldn't imagine giving up our alone time.
Now, I knew we would not go out every weekend, as we did in Arizona, but I imagined once a month would be the compromise with our revised student budget. This weekend we had a perfect excuse to hire a nanny. Our friends from Arizona, Kerry and Nathan Davis were in town and we wanted to meet in Manhattan for dinner. I interviewed many ladies and asked every parent I'd met for referrals and finally settled on a very kind and sincere gal who nannies for my friend downstairs. We understood that the cost would be $15.00 per hour. Yes~ $15.00!!! But... we calculated we'd be out for 3 hours- and that would be our splurge for the month.
Well, unfortunately there were a few things we forgot to take into account. 1. on a weekend night, the subways do not run nearly as often as they typically do, so you must wait longer than one might suspect to arrive at your destination 2. In New York, you must pay for the nanny's cab fair to and from your home. Our nanny's cab fair was $15.00 each way.
So, we ended up being out for 5 hours, not 3- and we owed our nanny $30.00 cab fair. You do the math. I'm struggling to type out the dollar amount~(still in a state of shock!) Moral of the story? We had an absolutely wonderful time with our friends. We adored our time in the city without kids. We do not regret the decision to hire our nanny. But... we will NOT be going out again for a long time! That is, unless we find a less expensive way to go it. Maybe swapping with another couple? Ugghh! I hate imposing on people, but it's a different world out here.
On a positive note... we had a fun day in the city with the kids (not spending a dime). That's how it is in New York- there are so many fun and free things to do. We went to a concert in Madison Square Park and let the kids run around and play. Evy's new obsession is the tire swing. I cannot get this girl off of the tire swing without major forms of bribery (lollipops or licorice usually do the trick!)
