LF_011019

LakeForestLeader.com NEWS
the lake forest leader | January 10, 2019 | 9
LF resident launches business to take nannying to the next level
Hilary Anderson
Freelance Reporter
There is a new type of
Mary Poppins in town.
She is Lake Forest’s
Bridget McManus, founder
and owner of the Lake
Forest business, Date
Night Boutique.
McManus, who has
worked with young children
and served as a nanny
for more than 20 years, has
a new way to help clients
with what she calls a glaring
need.
The need is for families
who would like someone
with the expertise of
a nanny to care for their
child or perhaps an adult
with special needs for a
short period of time—like
an evening or weekend.
Date Night Boutique
services enable a couple
or caregiver to go out on
a date with their significant
other or to a business
event. The individual
could even provide some
respite time for the caregiver
or brief companionship
for an older adult.
“The idea of having
someone to rely on for a
brief period of time with
professional child care experience
and maybe even
some medical knowledge
has been mulling around in
my mind for a long time,”
McManus said. “The person
could be called a family
assistant, a true premier
family concierge.”
McManus pointed out
that a family assistant
could help an overburdened
parent in a number
of ways—from caring for
children in the traditional
manner to doing grocery
shopping, or getting a car’s
oil changed, to picking up
youngsters from music lessons
or other after school
activities.
“Sometimes parents of
children with Type 1 Diabetes
are fearful of going
out on a date because their
youngsters’ glucose level
might rise too high or fall
too low,” McManus said.
“A family assistant who
might be a retired nurse
looking to make some
extra money would be a
perfect match for this situation.
The parents could
go out on a date without
worrying. They have
the knowledge someone
watching their child knows
what to do if the situation
arose.”
McManus, a New Trier
grad, studied painting and
art education at the Art
Institute of Chicago and
taught private art lessons
to children.
She based her observations
about the need for a
Date Night Boutique from
her experiences growing
up in Winnetka.
“I have seen the need
from both sides—the parents
and individuals who
needed occasional help
and traditional nannies
who provided it,” Mc-
Manus said. “Nannies are
professionals whose jobs
are primarily child care
and usually anything associated
with it like doing
their laundry, organizing
toys, making their meals.
We have seen breakdowns
come when nannies are
asked to do additional duties
not normally expected
of them. This is where
a family assistant could
come in and help.”
McManus added most
traditional nannies are
expected to work Mondays
through Fridays from
about 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
A family assistant’s
availability usually has a
wider time frame—weekends
and holidays included.
Her interest in better
meeting the needs of
North Shore families began
around 2010.
“I was working for a
well-respected agency
that hired traditional nannies
to work in Chicago,”
MaManus said. “I realized
the agency was not
servicing the North Shore.
At my suggestion, the
agency created a position
to provide such services. I
became their North Shore
liaison. To make ends
meet, I started a side job
of being a date night sitter.
The demand for high
quality but less traditional
sitters became more than I
could handle. That is how
Date Night Boutique was
born.”
She attributes her success
pairing parents’ needs
with the appropriate caregivers
to listening to what
they expect and require.
Her pool of nannies and
related family assistants is
large.
Date Night Boutique
now services all North
Shore communities and
Chicago.
“The trick is to understand
what each parent or
family member requires,”
McManus said. “What sets
us apart is that we personalize
every single search
when fulfilling a request
because every family is
unique.”
For more information
on Date Night Boutique,
email info@datenightbo
utique.com.
lake
From Page 4
brary.
“With the community
growing and the needs of
the community growing
likewise, the 1970s began
to look to build a dedicated
library building.
Through a land swap, the
library acquired a plot of
land where the library is
currently at 123 E. Scranton
Ave.
Later in 2002-03, the
Lake Bluff History Museum
annex was added
onto the building, offering
a permanent home
for the Lake Bluff History
Museum, while also
expanding the children’s
department.
After more than 30
years of wear and tear, the
library did a big renovation
in 2011, which Bailey
was witness to.
“The renovation really
brightened up the facilities,”
he said. “The ability
to do renovations was
wonderful because we
were able to implement a
lot of big exciting things
that were really important
for the library and the old
facility.”
While the celebration of
the centennial anniversary
is already underway with
the display case, there is
much more in store for the
year.
Bailey said the library
has coordinated with the
Village of Lake Bluff
to be integrated into the
2019 vehicle sticker.
The children’s department
will do monthly centennial
challenges. For the
month of January children
will be tasked with seeing
what they can build using
100 LEGOs.
Also, every Thursday
the library will do
a #throwbackthursday
on its blog called “What
We Were Reading”. It
is a look back on article
clippings from the 1930s
and what was being read
at the time. To view the
throwbacks, visit www.
lakebluffra.wordpress.
com.
Bailey said there will be
more celebration events
in the summer and fall of
this year.
And while the library
is excited about this milestone,
Bailey said its success
could not be possible
without the community.
“The Lake Bluff Library
is fortunate for
the community of Lake
Bluff,” he said. “Lake
Bluff is really a fantastic
community with a very
strong spirited community
of involvement as well
as continuing education. I
think those values of the
community shine through
in the library.”
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