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.

Thanks, flea.

The tax and the legal issues are the easy part, as far as I'm concerned! (And the other family is doing this all legally, and I'm still appalled at the number of people who don't.)

The trashydiva website has some good sales going on today, for anyone that likes their clothes.

Fay, I've lived in South Georgia and in a 1904 farmhouse in rural middle Georgia, so I've had some experience. All but the most ramshackle houses would have screens. In the country, as others have said, the water source is almost all wells and that requires electricity. If the pump shuts off for almost any reason, it will have to be reprimed. (Envision me at midnight in my gown and slippers taking a container of water outside to the well house, while cursing a blue streak.) Alabama does have artesian wells, which will supply water without a pump.

The people across the street from us had no plumbing, so they still had an outhouse. You occasionally run across people who've kept their outhouses up, but they're now pretty tightly regulated. However, if you can get water from anywhere, you can flush a toilet by pouring water into it. You'd have a septic tank work for some years.

In terms of critters inside the house, we had palmetto bugs (giant flying roaches about 2 inches long), ants, field mice, packrats (that was fun) and squirrels in the attic. Outside there'd be lots of mosquitoes, plus paper wasps and way too many caterpillar like things eating the garden and shrubbery. There are fireflies in early summer. There are the aforementioned fire ants. They build big mounds and their bite is like being touched with a soldering iron, then the worst itching ever. If it's a brushy or overgrown yard, there will be probably be chiggers and ticks. Deer are a big problem in most rural areas, and they busily munched on my garden too.

Hey Fay, have some visuals! [link]

(This whole group [link] is awesome.)

How long are you thinking it had been abandoned? Remember, you'll have to adjust your level of decay to match.