[Locke]

Originally Posted by driveway

I don't know if it's possible for you, but when my brother, sister and I were all growing up my parents were able to hire young women to work as live-in-nannies at our house.

It was a hugely positive experience for all of us and I recommend it to everyone. The women were almost all cool, mostly Swiss or English and a couple of them worked for us for several years - there's a pretty big spread in age between myself and my sister so there were a lot of years where child care was needed in our house.

We were fortunate to be able to have a house where we could provide accommodation for these girls - and the ability to afford it - but it meant that both my mother and father could work full time.

It also meant that mom and dad got to come home each night to a clean house where the chores and errands had been done, and us kids played with so they didn't have any of that stress. They could just come home and hang out with us, actually play with us instead of coming home and having to deal with the house and stuff like that.

Not to mention the fact that my siblings and I got to spend our days hanging out with cool young women from interesting countries. Our family is still in touch with two of the women who were our longest-term nannies, which is really cool.

I know it doesn't help your immediate situation, but if it's something that's ever crossed your mind as a possibility, from someone who went through it as a kid, it's awesome and I would recommend it to anyone who is in a position to do it.

I believe you're referring to an 'au pair.' They used to be a great alternative but lately due to changes in tax and immigration laws they are a lot harder to come by.