A Live-in Manny, Guest Post by Tina of Los Gringos Locos

Today I have a guest post from the lovely Tina of Los Gringos Locos on the topic of a male live-in nanny. The guest post below is an excerpt. For the full post, please follow the link below.

This is part of a series I am doing on child care and nannies. If you are a blogger and would like to guest post here on this topic, let me know.

I never thought I would have a live-in nanny. I thought I should be able to do ALL the work myself, with my baby daddy’s help of course 😉 But let’s face it… parenting is HARD. It’s the hardest thing I have ever done! It’s stressful, exhausting, makes you half crazy, and it’s wonderful, all at the same time. When we met our friend David, I never thought he would be living with us. But David was with us for over a year, and he was the best friend and live-in nanny we could ever have. He has moved on now and I miss him. Here’s my story of our live-in nanny. Tina

We have a live in nanny and he rocks. His name is David and he has been living with us for almost a year. David was a family friend before he moved in. He never intended to be our manny (live in nanny, who happens to be a man) but the situation worked out well for him and for us, so here we are.

How Our Live In Nanny Came To Be

When Brad and David met, they immediately became fast friends. David would come over and visit, and he was always great with the kids. He played with them, fed them, and even changed diapers without being asked! As a mother of four, I can tell you that a single guy changing a diaper without being asked (or forced)… well that move speaks volumes about the type of man David is.

In 2014 we took a month-long trip to Belize with the kids, and with David. At first we were going to go as a family but Brad and I started to think about the long trip and the sights we planned on seeing. We came to the conclusion that inviting David to help with the kids, in exchange for an almost free trip to Belize, would be ideal.

During our trip we were able to see how David and our kids interacted. We survived six weeks together on the road, traveling through Mexico and Belize, climbing pyramids, swimming in rivers, and then promptly getting diarrhea for two weeks afterwards. Despite the sickness, the unbearable heat, and our truck breaking down twice, I think we got along fabulously. Six months later we decided to move to another city in Mexico to help a Bible group become a congregation. We invited David to move with us.

What Does a Live In Nanny Do?

In exchange for room and board, David helps us tremendously around the house and on any trips we take together. Last August he came with us to Puerto Vallarta for a week. Brad’s mom loves David and she wanted him to be a part of our family vacation. David helps with our children, primarily Sawyer and Tristan, as Alexis and Taylor are past the nanny stage. He helps prepare meals, clean the house, do laundry, and almost anything we ask of him.

David does babysit but only occasionally. Brad and I have date night once a month and he watches the boys for several hours. Our girls go visit family friends for the evening. We pay David to babysit the boys since he helps us in so many other ways. For example, last week our fuel pump went out on our truck. David was a mechanic in the US and whenever our vehicle needs maintenance he is always there to help Brad fix it.

Sometimes I pay David to do extra things around the house, like cut the grass or wash my living room rug. Being bilingual he tutors students in English several hours a week and does side jobs for some of the local mechanic shops. This extra income helps him maintain his Jeep and gives him some spending money.

David is not a traditional live in nanny. Like I mentioned, he is our friend. During the past two years he has become a part of our family. We try not to abuse that friendship by asking too much of him or assuming he can and will do whatever we need of him. Fortunately he has his own room and bath, so he can go into hiding whenever he needs alone time.

Keep reading We Have a Live-in Nanny, and He rocks at Los Gringos Locos.

About: 
Tina Marie Ernspiker. Photographer / Writer.

“I love dancing like no one is watching, drinking red wine, traveling anywhere, making my kids laugh, kissing my husband, and bringing people good news. What do you love?”

Los Gringos Locos

Read other posts from this child care and nanny series.