Thank Goodness for Play Dates

I am sure that quite a few of you out there know what I mean. Play dates can really brighten up a very dark and difficult week. I am a nanny, so my play dates actually involve me sticking with the kids; but even still, it's nice to have a break. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit with another nanny whom I have come to enjoy spending time with.
It's so nice to just talk about our jobs and be able to relate. I have friends that I talk to, but I can't talk to them about my job the way I can talk to a fellow nanny. It's refreshing to know that everyone with a two year old experiences the same thing, and that I am not the only one with a strong willed little man. I enjoy sharing stories and just sitting back and talking while in the middle of children running around making a once clean room very, VERY disorganized. I don't even mind the mid sentence pauses that occur to take care of a child in hysterics or to hunt down the source of running water because we both understand!
I've come to truly think that nannies are of a different breed. We aren't mothers watching our own kids or someone having kids come into our own home. We take care of other people's precious gems, in their home, and take on the responsibility of helping to raise and nurture that prized "possession." We do more than just wipe faces...and other places... When a nanny comes into a home, it's to allow that family the piece of mind that their child is at home in a comfortable environment with more directed attention than say at a day care or preschool (though there's nothing wrong with either of those places).
 There is a sense of personalism (yep, I made it up), and I think that's what makes nannies so special. They give a portion of themselves each day to this youngster(s) that isn't even their own, and yet there is a connection created-a bond.
I don't know where I would be if I didn't have someone to talk to about my job who understands fully what I am going through. I am lucky to have two special nannies in my life, and I am so thankful for their insights and amusing stories.