Winston's 3rd Cold in 2010

Poor Winston threw up his lunch because he was coughing very hard. His nose was so stuffed that he was crying a great deal before finally falling asleep today. I am having an internet discussion with my friend, as I complain to her about the nanny who’s probably neither so efficient at work nor very careful in separating Winston from sick people when they go to the playground. She thinks that I am way too OCD about cleanliness, and that even if it’s the nanny’s fault that Winston gets sick so often, the best approach is to deal with it peacefully, instead of blaming her. I admit that I could be a demanding boss when it comes to Winston.

And as it turned out, I have since caught Winston’s cold, because I have spent the most time taking care of him during his sickness.

Hiring and managing a live-in nanny definitely has been a learning experience for me, and a painful one for that matter. I have leanred to lower my expectations, as Winston grows bigger and less vulnerable. Indeed I wish that I could find a perfect nanny for Winston, but so far I have learned to settle for less. At least, he will be going to daycare next year, in which case I can deal with finding someone else then.

I remember my own nanny, who took care of me until I was about four years old. I remember being closer to her than my mother, as my mother would chase after me to force me to go to school when I did not understand anything that was taught in school. After all I was not even four years old then! My mother probably thought that it was good for me to be exposed to a classroom, and I simply did not want to sit there. My most distinctive memory from that period is watching my mom across the vegetable field as she was chasing after me around the field, with my nanny at my side, frantically helping me to escape my mother. I suppose that my mother was not too pleased with the nanny aiding in my escape.

When we moved back to Beijing, she came to visit me once, and I was elated to see her. I wanted her to stay, but eventually she went back to the countryside of Shanxi. She died very lonely. I think about her still.