We Lost the Nanny

The house shoes (Hausschuhe) are gone, and with them the magic of our Nanny. The sad day has arrived sooner than we were hoping. In other words, the health insurance company has denied our request to extend the Nanny (Haushaltshilfe) due to Tamara's anemia.

But, we knew it would come to an end one day, and we learned some amazing things from the short time the Nanny was with us. This repeated the pattern that we saw when my mom stayed with us, and when the Relief Society (Frauenhilfsvereinigung or FHV in German) from our church helped us directly after Tamara's surgery. Our lives our much richer because of the service others have provided to us. One concrete example is that Spencer will be able to go to the movies next week with one of the families that helped us right after the surgery. Without that connection, he would not have been able to go.

That's the upside. Now to the day to day realities of dealing with Tamara's anemia. How did the kids respond to the lack-o-Nanny? How is Tamara doing? Find out in Episode 28 of our Living in Germany Podcast.


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Will We Lose the Nanny?

That is the question that occupies our minds these days. The Nanny is officially requested (by the doctor) and officially approved (by the health insurance company) through the 9th of April.

Because Tamara's blood levels have not improved (in fact they got worse) after the surgery, we have asked for an extension. This has to be requested by the doctor and approved by the health insurance.

Why am I pushing for this? I haven't seen Tamara this happy and upbeat in a long time. I hope our lifesaver will be able to be extended. Check out Episode 26 of our Living in Germany podcast for the update:
Here's our little reminder that the Nanny is here and still able to work a bit of magic for us. It's not Mary Poppin's umbrella, but our reminder that the Nanny is here. The question now is will she be able to stay with us:

A Nanny to the Rescue

Tamara has been sick with anemia for some time now (she takes iron pills and B12 shots) and recently underwent surgery to help improve the situation. with the surgery we applied for Haushaltshilfe (Domestic Help) through the health insurance and were able to receive it, just when we thought no more help was available after grandma was gone, and Tamara's blood counts actually got worse.
A little reminder that the Nanny is here.

It very common in Germany to wear house shoes, offer your guests house shoes, bring your own house shoes on trips, etc. We now have a reminder, even on the weekends, that the Nanny has come to help us (kind of like Mary Poppins' umbrella).

The benefit of a nanny is available here in Germany through the health insurance is a domestic help program. Social service organizations coordinate with the health insurance to provide homes with help after a surgery for example. In our case Tamara needs help with the housework and with the kids. After, the first week of surgery with lots of help from the congregation, and then two weeks of grandma, and I, Gardner, was back at work, we got this amazing help for Tamara, just when we thought she was back to being left all alone. It has truly been a life saver these last weeks.