One year ago today a nineteen-year-old came into my house and truly changed our lives for the better. Her experience with kids had been mostly limited to pre-teens and up, but there was something about her that struck us when we interviewed her — something that told us she was the one.

And we were right.

During her interview, Christine was quiet and reserved. She told us her mother was outside waiting for her in the car, “for safety reasons.” That alone put a huge plus in her favor, as that is exactly the kind of thing my mother would have done with me, and the kind of thing I will do for my children. When we decided to look for a nanny, Jack and I knew we wouldn’t be happy unless we found someone with a strong sense of family. Yes, there were cute, sweet, bubbly girls who came to interview who got down on Ethan’s level and asked him questions (um, yeah, he ate that up), but I never got a sense of family and responsibility from them.

But I did from Christine (who is cute and sweet, for sure), and when she first started, she was ready and willing to learn how to handle twin infants. Since I work at home, she started out more as a mother’s helper, but I was very quickly able to resume more hours of work, which was a tonic for my sanity. During the time of night-feedings and wakings, I was able to take a break in the daytime to take a nap, knowing that my babies were in good hands.

Christine has become part of the family, and will likely still be long after her two-year tenure is over. Ethan will often request to have time with her that he doesn’t have to share with his siblings. Henry and Miranda adore her and she them. They light up when she walks in in the morning, and they often throw fits when she leaves. She doesn’t baby them any more than they need to be babied (baby talk gives me hives — something I’m sure I will expand on in a later post). She is flexible with her hours and her outlook, and she can handle the occasional watching of all three kids at once — with no nervousness. She is, in short, our perfect nanny.

Thank you, Christine, for helping to make this past year run as smoothly as it could. Here’s to one more year of fun and surprises.