It's Official; I'm a Stay-At-Home Mom

After a lot of deliberation Yale and I have decided that I will take the rest of the school year off from work to stay home with Olivia. We first started seriously considering this option when we found out that the nanny we had set up (who is the live-in nanny of a friend) had accepted another baby. With Olivia, she would be watching 3 babies plus a 3-year-old. When we initially decided to go with this nanny it was because we thought Olivia would get more individual attention than she would at a daycare center, so we were willing to pay extra. But after she took on another baby we thought it would be less likely that Olivia would get that extra attention, especially since she's a pretty easy-going baby. Even though the circumstances had changed, I found it kind of hard to tell the nanny we had changed our minds. She got pretty quiet when I first told her we weren't happy with the situation, and quiet for her is rare. After she had a little time to think about it, she seemed okay with it. This definitely came as a relief to me. I am all for being assertive and working to get what you want, but it is a whole lot easier if the other person doesn't get really pissed off. The next step was to tell my boss. I wasn't sure how she would take it, but I know life is a lot easier f you stay on her good side. I had this little speech all planned, trying to appeal to her being a mother and a grandmother. Pointing out how different her job would be as a principal if all parents were involved in their children's lives. Well, it was all unnecessary. She took it far better than I expected. In fact, she said she completely expected me to take the year off. I was relieved to have that taken care of. So the next challenge will be the financial piece. Yale and I have taken several steps to try to cut back on our monthly bills. Yale has agreed to take his lunch to work rather than going out as long as I pack it for him. So one of my new duties as a stay-home-mom is to pack what Yale calls his hubby chow. We cut back on our cable service. Any vacations will be put on the back burner for now, which is okay with me since traveling with a baby isn't exactly relaxing. The thing I will miss the most is my monthly massages. I know that probably sounds indulgent, and I suppose it is. I try to talk Yale into giving me back rubs, but that rarely works.