I have seen this nanny more than once at the museum. She is thin, darker skin, and I think speaks Spanish only. She does not speak to the girl she takes care of. They were in the snack/vending area with the girl eating in silence - with the nanny sitting there with her hands in her lap. The nanny always smiles at me with my kids and the first time tried to assess if they were my own. I often have wanted to report her for being so hands-off or not stimulating or even really warm to the girl she cares for. I was thankful to find this site. (I was about to make my own site.)
I'm writing for some advice from other families/caregivers.
Hey, I recently started a nanny position on a trial basis (3 weeks and 3 days a week) the job sounded great. I did one day and liked the job, and I've been there 2 days. On the second day I got to meet the outgoing nanny which went well, but as I asked her questions about the job, I got slightly uneasy. She did not have a nanny agreement, does all the family laundry despite the fact they have a cleaning service, and cooks elaborate meals for the family.
Several months ago I was searching for a babysitter to help me with my son while I get some work done at home (I'm a PT WAHM). At the same time, Family A was helping their nanny acquire additional hours because they'd just cut her schedule from M-Thurs to 3 days per week. (The nanny works another job in another industry on Friday and Saturday.) Anyway, the nanny interviewed well, so I came to hire her at $15 per hour for work on her day off from Family A. At first we started with a few hours of help, but she was wonderful and soon it came to be the entire day, 9a-5p. I think she's really great. I buy her lunch every week. When her Family A needs to switch days with me or needs her the whole M-Thurs, I never complain. After all, that is her main job and she is their nanny, right? If she stays with us until Christmas, I plan to give her a very nice bonus. Well, our family travels out of town 3-4 times per year. We are out about 2 weeks at a time. We told her about the traveling up front.
Hi fellow nannies. As we all know, there are some great things about being a nanny. The strong bond you form with the children, the accomplished feeling you have after a long day's work, and the paycheck at the end of the week are great perks, just to name a few. On the other hand, there are also things that we don't particularly like about our jobs. As a frequent visitor to this website, there are common themes that I often see. The one that sticks out in my mind, because it hits so close to home, is the general topic of being taken advantage of. It seems that us nannies are always subject to this, even if we have an agreement with the family as to what hours we are SUPPOSED to be working, what our duties are SUPPOSED to be, etc.
I have a unique situation that I would like some advice on. I am a FT nanny but I also babysit on the side for a few families. There is one family that I babysit for at least 3-4 times a month. They have a 2 year old and are expecting their second child in January.
So I had just finished a summer live in job which was mostly a good experience. I am beginning to see no matter who I nanny for there will be at least a few things I find less than convenient, but that's a given. I quickly found another family needing a live in with 3 school aged children, one being special needs. We discussed the job over the phone, and had a face to face interview. I wanted to be paid by the hour, however we agreed to 25 -30 hours/wk, $250/wk, and a contract. I mentioned I was a little burned by the last family throwing extra hours on me without warning or getting paid so she agreed any extra time would be properly compensated. She was very friendly and reassuring that I would not be taken advantage of. The whole process went very quickly, I was hired on the spot (I usually am, I AM great with kids) and I was to start the following week. I moved in with a good feeling, the kids were fun and loving, my room very spacious and away from the childrens playing area....Or so I thought...I woke up to kids banging on drums above my room...Okay okay, I can take that, it IS an improvement from being woken at 6am every morning to children yelling outside my door at the last job...I can take 7am. What I can't take, however, is how I'm suddenly told I am only being paid 200/wk, I am expected to do household chores on my free time, and my hours are never really set. Oh and the contract? What contract....The children are not disciplined, they hit, yell, call names, and tell me no 48603596809475 times a day. I mentioned having a difficult time keeping up with getting the special needs child ready for school as we were running late and he was not cooperating. (I have to get very creative and make a game out of everything) I was told basically to get out of his face, as if it's all my fault.....I WAS only asking for help.
Our nanny of one year continues to wear incredibly short, tight, shorts, the highest high heels you have ever seen and skimpy tops with plunging necklines... and she is obese. I have asked my wife on several occassions to speak with her about her attire. Even my wife's parents are aghast at her attire. Bizzarley (is that a word), my wife feels that we should "let her be who she is." When she came to pick up one of my children at my office, I was truly embarrassed and several of my staff members commented (negatively) about her appearance. Also, we have four boys aged 6-12 yrs! Please, someone comment and set my wife straight!
Advice on asking for a raise...
I have a dilemma I would like to run past your readers:
Hello! I'm 23 yr old college grad who recently became disillusioned with my career path in marketing and decided to try something completely different by responding to a Craigslist ad for a decently paying, live-out nanny gig. Upon calling the listed number, I spoke with a woman who informed me that this family was fabulously wealthy (multiple times) and required a full-time nanny who spoke fluent German. So far, so good. Then she went on to tell me that because this family is so fabulously wealthy that they were going to pay $15 per hour, plus bonuses for doing a good job. This description is getting better by the second, I think to myself! I'd be making more as an inexperienced nanny than I was as a degree-toting marketing coordinator. Then, the lady drops this bomb: There is a combined total of 8 children. First of all... wtf 8 kids? Are they the children of a famous Austrian sea captain who respond by whistle calls? And what does this lady mean by "combined"? Second of all, this woman very freely volunteered information that this family is very wealthy, so how on earth would it seem appropriate to charge a measly $15 for 4x the amount of children it would normally account for? Now, I do not know the ages or circumstances of this family because it sounded like the lady I was speaking to wanted to keep the conversation brief and leave the details for an interview tomorrow. Needless to say, I'm definitely going on that interview because I am so curious!!
I saw this post on the UWS mom's group. One of the moms suggested emailing your site with it:
So I need advice. Basically I started a before school/after school job just as college started. It originally worked very well around my college schedule and seemed fair enough, bring the seven year old child to school at 8 in the morning, collect at 3 and stay til' 5:30, five days a week? Not bad right? I'd have to work weekends once a month as well. During this month, I have been "trained" basically by the grandmother who was still there, soon returning to her own country while the mother would stay behind with the child and work. Note also that she is a single parent.
Is it typical for a family to pay for a taxi after a certain time at night? Is it something you would bring up? I babysat for a family last night and they got home a little after 1am. I decided to just take a taxi home because waiting for the train could take a long time and I also didn't feel completely safe taking it home by myself that late at night. They didn't pay me extra for the taxi so I ended up spending a little over an hours worth of my pay that night on the taxi. I was bummed about that! I live in NYC if that makes any difference.
I'm in the Carroll Gardens Library, now known as a circle of hell due to the screaming children known as Mia and Jemma. I know their names because the nanny and older child will not stop screeching. I'm watching three nannies allowing the children to run and scream in a library. The lump watching the lovely Mia and Jemma is wearing a mint green sweater, chilling at a table, watching the children run through the stacks screaming.
Hello, fellow nanny friends. I'm in the middle of a serious childcare related issue, and I'm in need of some advice. As some of you on here may know, I have a two year old daughter. Now, at the risk of tooting my own horn, my daughter is absolutely beautiful. I've have been approached multiple times since her birth from people asking if she models, and agencies wanting to represent her in various campaigns. I don't really have interest in doing this, but wanted to paint a picture for you all. Anyway I work as a full time nanny for a very high end family, and they are kind enough to let me bring my daughter along with me. Because of this, I don't have to worry about regular care for her, but have a temp nanny that I use for weekend dates, etc. The girl I hired seemed wonderful - highly educated, and with great references. We had a trial, and everything seemed great. She worked for me a handful of times, and things seemed to be going well.
Hello, I am 24 years old and have been a professional nanny for over 6 years. I've worked for a variety of families, but have spent a large portion of my career working for one family in particular for the last 3 years. I work for a single mom who runs her own business, so she is often very busy, running around between home, meetings, sometimes flying across the country for days at a time while I stay with the child on overnights.
Would you talk to your employer if you found out that his older son is smoking pot in the house where you are taking care of the youngest son?
I'm planning an upcoming move to Baltimore, MD and was hoping parents or a nanny from the area could share experiences they have had with agencies there. I have only used an agency before and hope to do so again, but know they can vary in quality. Can anyone help?
Hey, I am looking for my next nanny position and may be able to do some temp work with an agency and I was wondering what you all thought about temp work? Have any of you other nannies done any temp work? Where were you placed? Did you like doing temp work? Anything you feel is important for others starting doing temp work? etc. Thanks everyone!
I have a problem and need some advice. I have been working for a family that I started with last year. They have one child that is about 1 1/2. I started with her at $8 an hour and when she was around 3 months old.
I have kind of an unusal situation to discuss. I have been working as a nanny from Virginia to Boston for the past nine years. In my first nanny job, I became pregnant by my employer. I subsequently left the position and put the child, a boy up for adoption. I was only 20 at the time and worked as a live-in nanny, I had no home, family, etc. My employer is now widowed, his wife having passed to cancer and he used a private detective to find me. He now wants to find the child that was given up for adoption. I had told him I was pregnant. I had told the agency that I did not know who the father was. I am still working as a nanny, still a live-in. When I think about the fact that I have a seven year old son out there, I get overwhelmed with sadness. There is no benefit for me to get involved in this. I also have a job I like very much now and I am marrying a very religious person who does not know about the pregnancy and adoption. Do I tell him? I think I should. I think I want a restraining order against my former employer because I dont want any involvement with this. He has only been nice in contacting me, but this is too much to handle. Can I get a restraining order quietly? I don't want people to know about the reason behind it because it will reflect on my character. I was young and stupid. I live a decent and principled life now. I try to.
I am interviewing for a new position to work with my class schedule and I met a family who would like me to co-homeschool their 6 year old. I would work MWF 8-3 and MB would be planning all lessons and working with him T/TH. Has anyone ever done this before and what problems have you encountered? They seem like a good fit but I've never done any sort of homeschooling before.