#1 - How it all began....
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| My first season - South of France |
I've actually always known I wanted to work with children. I am the youngest of four and was always obsessed with babies. All my small world play revolved around anything childcare related, being a 'mummy' or a classic housewife role (which is ironic as I grew up in a single parent household, where my mum is fiercely independent and not in any way a classic housewife!) I can vividly remember asking my mum to get me a play washing line, ironing board and iron for a birthday, which I played with ALL the time, or going through the Argos catalogue and circling all the pushchairs. At one point I had 7 pushchairs, which of course I used to put my cats in, who were dressed up in wedding clothes, then push them around (they literally didn't care and in fact were my substitute babies).
My mum is a social worker and I've spent a lot time asking her questions and learning about different families norms, understanding what is good enough parenting, how cycles of abuse work and how the care system works. Having worked for the company she now works for as a volunteer (with children in the care system), I now have a good understanding of attachment processes.
Anyway.. after school I felt that I didn't want go straight into an NVQ in childcare as thought this might limit my options if I wanted to do something else, so went to do A-Levels, which was in hindsight quite counterproductive, but I don't regret how much fun I had in those years. I may have come out with limited qualifications, but I had some strong flirting game and knew how to master a hangover, along with only spending £20 on a night out.
I fell into working in retail, then a short stint of elderly care work and then back into retail management until the age of 22. I was living with a friend and just realised that I needed to go back home, do my Level 3 and actually do what I was passionate about. I found a course in Bristol (where I lived at the time and where my family are from), signed up and called a nursery near my house and asked to work as a volunteer and do my qualification alongside. They said yes and I quit my current job (at an awful chain of retail stores where I was crying about 3 times a week because I was completely under appreciated), then started at the nursery. I worked as a volunteer for a few months, then was offered a full-time job when it came up. It took me a while to get to know everyone, but it was one of my favourite jobs to date, where the staff were professional and caring and I had a totally amazing boss, who gave me so much confidence and praise. She also was bloody awesome on a staff night out. The perfect balance!
After this job, I moved to a children's centre where I became SENDCO but found the role was overworked and the constant guilt I felt that I couldn't do enough on my own to make a difference was too much. My training and understanding wasn't always in line with some of the other staff and it was hard to penetrate that, especially when working with people that have been there for so many years. I started to have an urge to work away, either privately or for a company which is where everything changed for me...
I worked for a high-end holiday company as a holiday and ski nanny, for different families every week, but living in staff accommodation with other workers from the company. This was the scariest, tiring, most exciting, weirdest thing that I've ever experienced. I highly recommend it to ANYONE that wants to do something new - it really is insane. I did the South of France, Mallorca, Courchevel and Val D'Isere. You will meet your best friends, be heartbroken (for about a week), be the most sleep deprived you've ever known (prepping for nanny life) and meet so many amazing families.
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| My second season - Courchevel 1850 |
A year passed and I was offered various jobs from clients, but I met a family who I just felt were right for me, so I made the move to London and now work for them full-time, live-out (with Z who I shared a room with on ski season!) and have the most amazing job with the nicest family and feel completely happy and settled. I have just completed a maternity night nanny course as I love learning more about childcare. I could spend my days hearing stories about behaviour issues and advice, potty training, weaning etc - then to discover peoples techniques, ideas and views! - I feel like I've just absorbed SO much information and learnt new skills just from nannying and being immersed in the world of London mums!
Finally, thank you so much for reading this! Apologies if its incredibly boring and may seem like a CV?! But I wanted to explain my background prior to doing any posts. Please check out my future content which I hope will give you a little insight into what I do, advice I can give and ways in which I work! This blog is to share my experiences, ideas and what works for me, this is in no way to undermine what anyone else does or how they do things. If you do something that helps you and everyone is happy, then this is perfect - share it with me...!
J X
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