A Time to Give Thanks
In the month of November comes Thanksgiving, bringing a chance for us to reflect on the things in our lives for which we are grateful. For nannies, it offers you a time to show the family you work for that you are grateful for the children you spend your days with, as well as being given the wonderful opportunity by your family to assist in the care and everyday lives of their most precious children. Families too can take this time to review all that your nanny does to help your family, whether that be the daily running of the household, or, most importantly their role in your child’s life. It is easy as we spend every day in the same routines to take for granted the things and people around us that we should share our gratitude with; we must show these people that we feel their work and time is appreciated.
As parents or nannies, this time of the year offers a wonderful teaching opportunity for our children. In our lives, we often become so busy with work, chores and all sorts of other demands that we miss a good time to discuss with our children what they feel grateful for. Thanksgiving gives us some time to reflect on those things and an opportunity to discuss these things with your children. We can teach them the difference between material and non-material possessions. Often, we and our children take non-material things for granted: things such as a warm home, food, clothing, and families that love them. For some in western society, these things come standard to all. However, we often forget that things as simple as food and shelter are not a luxury available to everyone. This reflection can help us teach our children about the importance of community and family.
Several years ago, the founders of Windsor House Nannies were privileged enough to attend MomCom. At this amazing conference, we heard many wonderful speakers that certainly opened our eyes to the plights of others, as well as our own positions in our community and what we can do to help not just those less fortunate or in need but also our neighbors. Arabia Chaudry (one of the speakers) spoke the truthful phrase that “it takes a village to raise a child”. As nannies, this rung true to us – the more support a parent or family has, the better. In the past, successful communities ran with the viewpoint that everyone was there to help each other, offering assistance when they could, knowing that they could count on it to be offered to them when they needed. In our current society it seems that we no longer have this community dynamic, this village if you will. However, we can create our own villages. By opening ourselves up to communication with other families and groups in our neighborhood (child’s classes, teams, church, etc.), we can begin to establish ways of helping one another in ways as simple as beginning car pools, helping with cooking, childcare, etc. Offer whatever skills and abilities you have to the people near you, and, in turn, start a path to creating your own village.
The season of thanksgiving perfectly opens a door to give back some of that gratitude, in whatever ways you are able to do that. Children learn from the actions of their parents, families, teachers, nannies and peers. Lead by example, giving to those in need, and they will quickly see that the feeling one gets from giving is greater than that of receiving.
We at Windsor House Nannies are very thankful for our families. We are grateful for their business, as well as their continued support of the service we can offer. Special thanks also goes out to our wonderful nannies, without whom, we couldn’t provide our families with such wonderful service. Our nannies’ dedication to us and their work as caregivers deserves huge praise – we are very lucky to have their support. Windsor House Nannies will endeavor to provide a supportive and reliable service to both our nannies and our clients. In addition, we will take the words mentioned at MomCom to heart, by doing as much as we can in Austin communities to build our very own child-raising village!
