Fay, my father grew up on a farm in rural Tennessee (north of Alabama, but still the south), so I got to hear about the, um, joys of that life. It was an old house and never did have electricity or indoor plumbing. So, if it's an OLD house that's been deserted for a while, it probably wouldn't have any of the modern conveniences. There would probably be a pump in the kitchen for water, one outdoors, probably a well. There'd be an outhouse, rather than an indoor toilet. There might be oil or kerosene lamps and there might be some cans with the last dregs of fuel.

And it'd be hot. Also probably humid. In a deserted house - depending on how long it'd been vacant - you'd have insects, assorted wildlife would have moved in (mice, squirrels, snakes, maybe raccoons).

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

Happy Anniversary to Laura and her DH!!!

ooh! yes! happy annivesary!

And have people checked out Google today?

♣♣ Happy St. Patrick's Day! ♣♣

We went out last night. Pizza at our favorite joint, without kids.

What they said above about the water. Without electricity pumps don't run except for manual kind and they likely would need to be primed to get running if not used in a while.

I don't know anything about old farmhouses.

Parent Hivemind: I'm talking to someone today about a nanny share arrangement - the family, not the nanny. What questions do I need to ask? (I know the basic financial arrangements [but not what they're actually paying her], basic time arrangements, vacation & sick leave, that they own two dogs [so my monster is not a problem for the child or for them]),etc.

I think the deal breaker for us would be cost issues, because I'd like to retire someday and still want to be able to send some money in that direction.

We very briefly looked into it in LA when we were there, but it was very brief - mainly because of cost. Plus, for me and just for me - I speak for noone else - I preferred the idea of Em being in a daycare because I felt like it made the people watching her more liable. If, God forbid, something horrible happened to her while there, I would own a daycare. (This is not based on any real application of the law.)

Sparky, not a parent, but I'd be wondering about sick-day arrangements (as in, who covers if the nanny is ill, or if their kids or yours were sick but not both at once).

Askye, I meant to say this yesterday, but congratulations on your new kitties. They are so cute. Have you had meezers (Siamese and/or part Siamese, as they both appear to be - Maddie's got the body type if not the coat pattern) before?

We are on wait lists all over the place for daycares, but the closest anyone has come to saying they'll have a space for us is "maybe in September."

So we're still in the process of exploring all our options, with the knowledge that we may not have a lot of actual choices.

sick-day arrangements

This particular nanny has taken two sick days in the past year, and has a reciprocal arrangement with another nanny if we can't take the day off. If our kiddo is sick, we would still have to pay the nanny.

We are on wait lists all over the place for daycares, but the closest anyone has come to saying they'll have a space for us is "maybe in September."

Holy crap!

Nanny share issues to address with the family: how will any disputes be resolved - disputes between the families, and disputes with the nanny? Have a policy in place. Is there a written contract with the nanny? Are you square with taxes and legal issues? (I am sure you have this aspect well in hand!) Will the families work together to cover when the nanny is sick? What if a child is mildly ill?

The biggest problem with nanny sharing (aside from the expense) is getting along with the other people (the other family and the nanny). If you can talk NOW about how to handle disagreements that may come up in the future, you can save yourself a lot of grief. Having done both, and as an introvert, I have found group daycare to be much easier in terms of my stress level from dealing with other humans. On the plus side, you can develop close relationships.