Even though most of us have never met face to face we are linked in our enjoyment of the Blue Jays and our love of baseball. We share this bond so when something bad happens to one of us we can empathize that someone, whose virtual company we enjoy, is suffering.
Our own John Northey has recently lost his wife due to complications from childbirth. John now has four young children, including a newborn, to look after.
John recently reached out to the roster for some help. John thought he would have a wife at home to look after his children but now he has to become Mr. Mom and he has to look for home help, or a nanny, without having prepared for that eventuality. He needs to decide quickly how to setup his, and his kids, life.
We don't know if any of you have had to go through something like this. We don't know if any of you are single parents. But John is looking for any advice you might have. The old saying is a problem shared is a problem halved so we hope someof you might be able to help.
John has continued to post during this time, as a distratction he says. The Jays playoff push, long shot as it was, helped John think of something else besides real life issues. John lives in Thunder Bay. So Bauxites, John would appreciate any help you could give.
From John: For nanny services I have no idea what are reputable groups/sites to go to. Checking online I see many but have no clue if any are any good. Obviously I want to be getting as safe/good a person as possible. Funny thing is I've been checking with services I already use (various children groups that provide free services) and none have any clue.
There are possibilities for non-live in care but that will cost more as I'd need a few people instead of just one and that also adds stress over 'shift changes' and needing to interview more people. At least after a year or so it'll get easier as she learns to sleep through the night. If I didn't need to work it'd be easier but that isn't realistic. I do wonder how single parents do it who don't have the supports I have had so far.
Also, I started a special bank account (my mother pressed me to do so) for people to deposit any donations to help with Katrina's care as nanny's aren't cheap, especially on just one income (we did have life insurance, which will cover our debts). It is at CIBC 04087/81-53884 under my and Katrina's name. Feel bad about asking anyone for help there, so far just over $3k in there which will help.
Still hard to believe she isn't going to just come by and surprise me. Hopefully none of you will ever have to go through something like this - the high of the baby at 1:46 AM and the low of seeing her heart stop and a massive team of doctors/nurses/etc. trying to revive her around 4 AM. A 1 in 100,000 shot of that happening in Canada and we drew the short straw.
