Friday

Come With Us!

Dogan-Soysal
      Startling news in our perfect home. My husband is going to working overseas for 20 months. We are going with him. Unfortunately, it isn't a glamorous location like London or Paris, but Istanbul. We have a wonderful nanny, our first and only who started with us when the baby nurse left and the twins were 10 weeks. The twins are now 26 months.
     I don't know how I can do this without her. She is a wonderful nanny but also has a fulfilling social life. Fortunately, she is not steadily dating anyone, but she is involved in her local community and has many friends and a full social calendar. She also seems to be very close to her two sisters.
     Before I break the news to the nanny and ask her to please come with us... what can I do to sweeten the deal? We would be leaving August 1. She may choose not to go and I understand that, but if you were a nanny, and I needed you for 20 months to live overseas, how could I make it worth your while?
    Any advice would be very much appreciated! I am sure we could find another great nanny, but going to such an unfamiliar location, I think the twins and I would fair much better with the consistency of our trusted nanny,
Email your stories and questions to isynblog@gmail.com.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Maybe offer to fly her home a few times a year so that she can see family and friends, and make that time paid. You could also give her a % raise. Perhaps offering her a car to be used in Istanbul would prove helpful? Take over her phone contract so that she can communicate with friends freely? All of these would be great, or even just one or two of them!

nannyrobot said...

Offer a substantial pay increase in addition to a bonus for moving and staying the whole 20 months. Give her at least 6 weeks paid vacation time split up per year where you pay for her to travel home. Give her comfortable living space and her own transportation.

If I was offered those things, I would take the deal. Without those things, it would not be worth it to me to leave my life behind for almost two years and live in an unfamiliar place.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the previous posters.

And a side note - I would love to live in Istanbul for a while. I love traveling.

Good luck OP!!

~ Rainbow

Gia said...

Honestly, I don't think the deal needs ot be sweetened! I feel like the opportunity to move to Istanbul is pretty amazing. If I was a single nanny, I would take it in a second. I would make it clear that she can go home x amount of times over the 20 months, and maybe give her the opportunity to do a little traveling to maybe Greece and Italy.
I don't think you would need to give her more money, definitely not a car of her own. I may give her use of a car.
The previous poster's suggestion of adding her to your phone plan is good, that way she can keep in touch with her family and friends without having to pay a lot of extra money.

nannyrobot said...
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Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I love all of these suggestions. On top of all this I'd also offer to fly her sisters over to visit her once or twice while she is there with you. Yes, you'll be in an unfamiliar country but you'll have your husband, children and trusted nanny as companionship.

Unknown said...

And she will not, although, I do believe you'll try your best to make her feel at home and apart of your family but she still won't have the same closeness and family bond that you will get to enjoy while in an unfamiliar country. Having her sisters visit will really help her moral and I'm sure you want your nanny to be as happy as possible, a happy nanny is a great nanny!! I'd also offer her a raise as well as 6 weeks paid vacation so she can travel home. For me though, the biggest perk would be the offer of flying my favorite family member or friend (whom ever I'm missing the most) over. By the way, Istanbul is absolutely gorgeous!! Let us know if your nanny agrees to go. I wish you the best of luck!!!

RBTC said...

these are all great suggestions - your nanny might love the idea of experience in a foreign country - let us know what happens

Anonymous said...

It can take months to be approved for a passport, depending on the background....you better get asking! She might not get her passport in time

Angi

Anonymous said...

I'm with you! I'd hop at the chance!!! Amazing opportunity

Angi

Corina said...

Istanbul is a great place. My husband is from there😃. If you have any questions about the city. Let me know. I can see if ISYN can send you my email.

Anonymous said...

Traveling about Europe would sweeten the deal for me. Maybe let her even bring a friend and pay for her too.