Almost exactly a year ago I made a very important try.

***this post is part of a 31 day series about learning to try*** 

Day 9.

It was almost exactly a year ago that I started looking for a second job. I was working part time in a ladies clothing store but the orders from the higher ups required that all our hours be cut to save on payroll. :-P (payroll is now a dirty word in my book).  But trying to find a job that would work well with my retail schedule was tricky.  Enter a lovely limitation! ;-)

Then my friend to whom I will always be eternally grateful told me about this website to help babysitters and nannies connect with parents in need of childcare. I was incredibly hesitant, I'll admit. It took an impressive pep talk from my friend to get me to try.

I'd been babysitting since I was 12, but my year as a full time special needs nanny had been incredibly rewarding but also very challenging and left me hesitant to work for just one family again. :-/

Making the profile/resume for that website was such a rewarding experience in and of itself. My work and volunteer history has been colorful and varied and an education in its own right, but it has not left me with any accredited degrees or certifications. But lucky for me, experience counts more than diplomas to parents looking for someone to take care of their little ones. 

Within two weeks of posting my profile, I had found two amazing families to babysit for and I was having to turn down offers!  Within two months, my side business to earn a little extra spending money was making more than my "day job".  It was slightly surreal. 

For the next 6 months I kept working both jobs. Babysitting and retail. The money was great but the hours were killing me. So I decided to give my manager my notice. I'd been with that store 4 years and we were all like family. But she and I both knew it was coming. I stayed on through Easter and Mother's Day, and then I said goodbye to that chapter of my life and entered the brave new world of the self employed. It was one of the most exciting and terrifying things I have ever done. 

I needed to bring in more babysitting work if I was ever going to be financially independent, which for me translated to being able to afford to move out of my parents house).  It took about a month and a few detours but I found a third family that was a perfect fit with me and my other families and my schedule. 

And that is the story of how one little try helped change my life!

I love my kiddos! I'd like to briefly introduce them if you don't mind, so you will know who is who when I mention them in the days and weeks ahead. :-) don't worry, there won't be a test! ;-)

On Mondays and Thursdays and sometimes Sundays I watch little Miss K age 4 and little Miss A age almost 2. Starting next month I will take them to preschool 4 days a week, but they won't need me Mondays.

On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I help a mom with one year old twins in the afternoon. Little Miss S and her partner in crime Mr S.

On Thursday mornings, and other misc times as needed, I watch Mr P (just turned one) and sometimes his older brother age 3, also a Mr P.  Mr P and Mr P have 4 older siblings that I watch when their parents have date night. 

And those are my families! 

Thanks for joining me while I reminisced today! Hopefully tomorrow will be back to our normal random craziness. :-)