Compromising a Car Contract

This question is for both Nannies and Moms about the use of the nannies car. I have been a nanny for a while, and that includes jobs where I have used a family car, jobs where I haven't driven at all (public transportation or walking everywhere), jobs where I used my car but only rarely, and jobs where I used my car a LOT. I am wondering what the standard is for gas reimbursement, wear and tear, car insurance, and lastly - the messiness that kids leave in the car (even with us trying to be on top of them about food, mud, etc). I am starting to get frustrated with using my car. I know, I know, I shouldn't have accepted the job knowing that I was going to use my car so much. I am not looking for advice as to what I should do, because this job is only temporary so it's not worth it to me to go through the motions.

But, rather, I am wondering what other nannies and parents think about this. Do some nannies have a seperate "car" section in their contract? I think it's great when families offer a family car to use for the nanny at work, but obviously not all families can do this. Some families offer gas money, and that's great too. If that's the case, do you write down every single mile you drive and go from there? Or, do the parents just throw you $20 at the end of the week? Also, do you change your insurance around? I am wondering for the future, as I feel like I would want to instate a "car" section in my contract, stating guidelines for gas, insurance, wear and tear.. and do I dare add in a interior cleaning of some sort? Any advice/stories/suggestions would be awesome.

Calling All Nashville Area Nannies

I have a question for the Nashville area nannies (if you are out there....). I recently relocated from the East Coast (NY/NJ area) and am having trouble with what to say when potential employers ask for a salary requirement. I applied with a nanny agency, in a very affluent area, that informed me that the "going rate" is $11-13/hr. I'm having trouble swallowing this because, while I realize that the cost of living is less here, it's not THAT MUCH LESS that I could survive on this rate. I was making $18-20 to watch 2 children at one previous employer. And the position that I left to come here was paying me $2000/wk (I was the household manager).

I specifically have trouble when positions come up like the following: 3 kids who need care from 6:30-8am, and then again from 2:45-5/6pm but there are times that it could be 8pm. I can't have another job during the "off time" because I would need to be "on-call" in case a child is home sick or gets sick and needs to come home. I am college educated, trilingual, a Ringling Bros. Clown College graduate (no, I'm not kidding) who swims/drives/travels/ and basically does it all. I would love to hear from other nannies.... What would you ask for as a salary when you are possibly only working 20 hours a week, but need to be available from 6:30am-8pm, 4 days a week? What are you asking for hourly in this area?? Thank you in advance.

How do I Determine a Dollar Amount?

How do you set your rates? I’ve seen discussion here about how a nanny should receive additional pay for each additional child and duties. What percentage or dollar amount should you add on for each? I have a base rate in mine that will allow me to live, but with more kids comes more work. Is it fair to raise the fee for doing chores like grocery shopping, preparing meals for the family, regularly running errands, laundry other than for the kids?

Is it Normal to Be Fed Up With Total Melt Downs?

I am wondering how all of you nannies handle this situation, or just what you think of it. You know that moment, where you are literally about to FLIP OUT. It's one of those days where the kids are going nuts, will not listen to you, you've tried everything.. maybe you're grocery shopping or doing errands and they're being extremely rambunctious, and you're THAT mom/nanny at the store who has no control. Or, its 5pm and you're cooking dinner and the kids are fighting, screaming, running around crazy and it's taking all you have to not just scream at them? I am a great nanny, have been for 5+ years, and I love my job. But, I think we all have those moments where we want to just have a meltdown. It's just different when you are the nanny. It is your job to be there, to take care of them, to handle situations with care and with ease. Yet, aren't we all allowed to feel completely fed up once in a while? I know for me, it helps when a parent I work for confesses that they had a total "melt down" or "freak out" over the weekend. It makes me feel like, okay then, it's not just me. I don't know what it is exactly I am asking- I guess I just want to know that I am not alone!

Is Nanny Obligated to Stay... and Endure Abuse?

I need some help. I've found myself in a pretty sticky spot and I'm not sure exactly what to do. I've been nannying for a family with 3 children, a set of 4 yr old twins and a 6 yr old, for about 15 months. Things started out great of course... and quickly went south. Since the time I started working there they've replaced their nanny of 3 yrs, the mom quit working from home and moved to an office, they've started building a new home, sold their old home before their new home was ready, then moved into a hotel for about a month, then moved into a very small apartment for the summer, then finally moved into their new home. I was, of course, heavily relied upon during this time. I did all the deep cleaning to prepare their old home to be sold, I did all the cleaning when they moved out of the hotel, I did all of the deep cleaning when they moved into their apartment as well as when they moved out. I also did all of the packing for the kids stuff in every move. I'm now responsible for all of the cleaning in their new home... vacuuming, dusting, bathrooms, kitchen etc. I'm also now responsible for all of the cooking. When my boss goes out of town I work 12 hr days with no extra pay, she just lets me go early one day of that week and calls it "even." I do all of their grocery shopping, I pick up and drop off the dry cleaning, make daily post office runs for her husbands side business... and on and on my duties have accumulated. I'm not being paid any extra for any of this.

On top of everything their oldest son has decided to take out on me his frustration with his parents. He screams at me if I come within a few feet of him. He tells me he hates me and wishes I would never come back. He tells me I'm a terrible nanny and he wishes I had never been born. He always speaks me to me very disrespectfully and condescendingly. For much of these tantrums my boss is still home and she rarely, if ever, intervenes. I've addressed the issue with my boss who tells me he's going through a phase. A couple of months after I addressed the issue I was scolded for his behavior towards me and told I need to do more to connect with him. One of the twins has also decided to take out his frustrations on me with 2 hr long tantrums. To the point where he throws up. He screams at me and kicks the door and tells me he's going to bite me and punch me and kick me and he never wants me to come back. I've informed the mother of his behavior and she chalks it up to "a few bad days."

This is only a very brief description of the things I've dealt with in the last year. They are at times very nice to me. She sometimes gives me $5 gift cards to Starbucks and gives me clothes that no longer fit her, etc. However, after all of this I was anticipating a significant raise in January. I received a $.25 raise. In addition to this slap in the face, she took away my vacation time (I used to get 2 wks of paid vacation time... now I have 3 days from January to June) and I no longer get paid for their vacation time (which I did last year). She also wants me to teach the twins how to read and write and schedule out every day with special learning activities (she says the kids don't have enough to look forward to and that's why they act up), she also wants me to take classes and do outside research on how to be a better nanny (she says she does it for her business too so its perfectly reasonable).

Needless to say, I have turned in my notice because I've decided to return to school. I gave them 3 wks out of guilt because they rely so heavily on me and my boss was out of town most of this week. My problem now is that the parents trash talk me to their children behind my back, which they've always done, but I'm just now starting to realize how disrespectful and detrimental this is. Friday morning I came in and the kids were all screaming saying "you're a bad nanny! you made daddy mad! we don't have to listen to you because daddy said you're bad! daddy was calling you naughty names last night!" They already have a nanny lined up but they want me to stay and train her.

I've explained all of that to pose this question: Am I crazy for feeling like trash talking the nanny to their kids is unacceptable? They see no problem. I feel betrayed. Since I already gave them 3 wks am I obligated to stay those 3 weeks and train their new nanny? Or can I just leave?

Opportunity Knocks... Should Nanny Answer?

Okay my nannies with experience in this area, and even those that don’t, should I consider this job or not? First let me tell you a bit of my background. I’ve been in education for 4 years, my primary experience is with ages 18 months to 4 years old, and to make ends meet in tough times I’ve taken on being a nanny. I’ve been looking for a full-time gig for close to a year now.

Here is the opportunity: a family is seeking a nanny for their 2 and 4 year old little girls. They also have 3 older children that do not require nanny care. The new nanny would be replacing the old nanny who had to leave very suddenly due to an illness in her family. This former nanny is well loved. They want a nanny who will do household laundry, cook and buy groceries twice a week, and travel with them at least twice a year, all that in addition to typical chores like getting meals for the little girls and transporting them to and from their activities. Pay is decent. The hours are Monday through Friday 7:30am to 5:30 pm. They are looking for someone long-term, who is fun loving, creative with just the right touch of discipline. They describe themselves as laid back.

Here are my concerns:
1. In my albeit limited experience, despite what parents say, you do at some point become responsible for all children, be it on school vacations, illness etc. I am not into caring for teens.
2. I have no problem attending to the kids’ laundry, but I am firmly against household laundry.
3. I’m not against traveling, but I have a very specific schedule at home and I don’t know for certain how flexible they will be with coordinating dates.
4. Replacing a well-loved nanny, who had to leave suddenly, almost seems an impossible task.
5. They say they want someone who can be with them for years, but I see it as only another year of one child needing full-time regular care. After that I see this position becoming part-time nanny, on-call nanny, and a whole lot of housekeeper.
6. On the plus side I am very creative and think I would match well with the personality they are looking for in a nanny, and 2s and 4s are my forte.
7. It’s a bonus the job is near to where I live and is full time.

Is it worth it or should I pass this up and hope something else comes along?

How Can Nanny Survive with Unlivable Wages?

Hello! I am new to the whole nanny as a profession but have cared for many children over the years. I recently accepted a position from a well off family who gets reimbursed by their employer for childcare. They said $200 a week, but in our area I am unsure of anyone who can live off of $800 a month! I am expected to care for one child for the full nine hours while the other is only about a half hour till they come home. They choose to have a nanny over regular child care so we can monitor and regulate what the youngest child eats/drinks as he is extremely allergic to many food items. We play all day long, I put him down for a nap, and cook/feed the children breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the summer I will be expected to care for both children, I would enjoy taking the kids out but I can't when I myself cannot afford to even get to work and back after paying my bills/rent! Any advice is greatly appreciated.

WAHMs vs WAHDs

How do nannies feel about WAHMs vs WAHDs? If the mom is working at home, it's simply annoying. If the dad is home, it can be creepy. I personally feel it is inappropriate for a dad to be at home with a younger female nanny. Any thoughts?

The Good 'ol Days

I can't be the only nanny who has noticed the lack of a schedule for children in recent years. Back when I started, children had regular mealtimes, naptimes, and bedtimes. The last 5 years or so when I go on interviews all I hear is little so and so has no schedule and in the very next breath they talk about how hungry, cranky, or tired the child is all the time. Well gee! I wonder why that is? I'm not one for overscheduling. For example I don't think a child needs a sport or class every day of the week, but there is something to be said for dinner and bed at the same time every day!

Jumping the Gun

I am a nanny for a 7 month old baby and I have been here with the family since the day he was born. My bosses have been talking about having another baby and constantly ask if I will stick around when they do. I love my job and my bosses and would love to stay with them. I currently get paid 400/week for 50 (sometimes more) hours of work per week. While some may think it is on the lower end for the hours I work, I am a live in and they do pay for groceries, health insurance, car, cell phone, etc, so besides my personal student loans, I have virtually no expenses.

Would it be unfair of me to ask for more money when they have another baby? I may be jumping the gun because MB isn't even pregnant, but I am just curious. I really love this job and my charge and I consider myself part of the family and I think I would stay even if I didn't get a pay raise..but is that fair to me? Just need some nanny input..what would you do?

Live-in Cut-off?

For all of you live-in nannies out there...how old are you? I am 22 and am a live-in. I started this job when I was 21 and know I'll have job security for years to come because my nanny family and I have a great relationship and they are planning on having more kids...and the more kids they have, the more they need a nanny around. I am just wondering how old is ''too old'' to be a live in? I sometimes worry about my own independence and if I should get my own place because being a live in is very convenient but I sometimes feel like it's not putting me out into the real world. I'll admit I'm a little spoiled here! Anyone feel the same?

Nanny's Dream Job Becomes Heartwrenching Nightmare

I’m really hoping I can get some advice about a heartbreaking situation I have found myself in. I have been a nanny for 7 years and have always had fantastic relationships with all of my charges and have always been head over heels in love with them. I have stayed in contact with all of them. My most recent was caring for a baby girl from 2 weeks old until she was 13 months. The family had to relocate across the country and it has been extremely difficult for me. Normally this situation is heart wrenching, but I move on healthily and am excited for a new baby to be a huge part of my life. I never imagined I would miss her SO much after starting this new job.

3 weeks ago I started with a new family and their 5 month old son. I feel like crying every time I come home from work and before I go to work! He is the most difficult infant I have ever seen in my life and it is really starting to take a toll on me. He cries constantly, but not really crying, more like whining that turns into hysterical screaming. He shakes, sweats and is inconsolable. I have tried everything to calm him down but he doesn’t stop until he is asleep, which is extremely difficult for him to do. When he finally falls asleep he only naps for about 30 minutes and wakes up in full hysterics. There are maybe two times during the time I am there which he smiles and coos at me, and it lasts about 30 seconds until out of nowhere he is building on hysteria again. The mother seems to be in denial that something may be wrong whether it be colic or something else more serious. She always chalks it up to “oh he must miss me so much when I’m gone!” I feel there should have been some definite bonding with him since I am there about 35 hrs a week, but it’s like he has no idea who I am at all. He completely rejects any affection, arches his back and seems he doesn’t want to be held at all. He is upset whether he is being held, walked around, bounced, played music, fed, changed or sitting in a swing or on the floor. I feel like a bad nanny because I cannot in any way console this poor baby and I feel like he hates me! I have thought about quitting but I feel so awful giving up on myself and the baby, I want it to work but I can’t go on like this.

After the first week of a new job I am so used to having a baby love me and reacting positively to my affection. All I want is to be able to snuggle him and give him so much love and it breaks my heart that I can’t do that. What would you do?

The Traveling Nanny

Hello, I am looking for some counsel. We are an Army family currently in GA. We are heading to VA in June for 2 years. We have a great sitter now. She is sweet and loves our kids and we really like and trust her. She is a young girl, almost 20, who wants to start college. She is looking for a change (parents going through a divorce) so we told her she was welcome to come with us to VA. She can live with us and start school or just take in the sights and help us... kind of our ministry to her as well.

Here is the breakdown: We have 3 kids, 9, 6, & 2. I am a stay at home mom who might get pregnant again. That is when I would need the most help, I get pretty sick, so that might mean drop off and pick up from school occasionally if I'm too sick. But even so, we only go out on dates 1 or 2 times a month, we don't do over-nighters, or do much without our children. I may ask her to keep the youngest once or twice a week so I can run errands but that is really it. She would just be my back up if needed while she goes to school or whatever else. She sells MK and I wouldn't mind if she worked part time or took other sitter jobs... again I am a stay at home mom and do it myself. She loves art like my oldest daughter so I'm sure she would go with us to museums etc... she would have a free place to live and be included in our meals.

I'm trying to find a house where she will have her own room/bathroom and separate entrance, she has her own car already but would use ours if she has the kids. How much would be reasonable pay for this? I know it's a lot of stuff here and we always pay her as much as she asks for but we don't have a lot of extra being Army, and we could never afford a full time nanny. But we really want to help get her started in school if she wants, and she is excited about getting to travel and trying something new and I know this will be a great experience for her as well. Thank you for any help.

All in a Day's Work!

This may sound like an odd question, but I was just wondering how many other nannies have ever had to deal with their bosses wandering the house in their underpants at times.

I've been with the same family for 2 years, and the parents and I get along very well. A few times MB has come to talk to me while getting ready for work and been in just a bra and jeans, or a t-shirt and pantyhose, or something similar. I always wrote those off pretty easily - I did have to walk in on her breastfeeding a few times a day for a year after all.

Then, the other day, I came in to work (at my usual time) and went upstairs where I could hear MB playing with the kids, and when I poked my head in the room DB was in there in just his boxers. We all sort of just laughed, he apologized, and we moved on, but I thought this was a funny example of the kinds of things that happen in a nanny job that don't happen with other professions - you get poop on your hands, you get puked on, and sometimes you walk in on your boss in his underpants!

Obeying the Law

I want to do the right thing and work on the books. How do I figure out what forms I and potential employers need? I’m taking on a part time nanny job for an infant and a toddler. Do you think $250 is a fair (after tax) weekly rate for 20 hours a week? Should I at least expect to make the daycare fee? Around here a daycare would charge about $350 for those hours for kids that age.

Barnes and Noble in Chandler Fashion Mall - Chandler, Arizona

I have been a nanny for four years, I love my job and think it is one of the best out there. But I also think there are far too many people who take advantage of it. What I saw yesterday disturbed me so much that I had to do something about it.

I take my charge to the childrens story time at Barnes and Noble in Chandler Fashion Mall in Chandler Arizona every Friday. We love going there and playing with all of the other kids. Well, I walked in this last Friday on January 20th at 10:30 a.m. ready for story time as usual. I pushed the stroller up next to a seat and grabbed a few books off of the shelf while we waited for the story time to begin. Next to me was a young woman in her early twenties with brown hair and blonde streaks that was tied up in a bun. She was sitting on the ground next to her charge (an adorable little asian boy who looked to be around three) and while everyone else was reading books to their kids, her charge just sat there in his chair with nothing. The nanny was on facebook and checking the internet on her phone while completely ignoring the little boy. She didn't talk to him, look at him, she was so engrossed with her phone. When her charge tried to grab a book on the shelf behind him, she took it away and said in a harsh voice that he doesn't get to touch anything.

The little boy went back to sitting quietly while she went back to her phone. As the story time began, she stayed on her phone the entire time. When there was a special guest who arrived (Maisy the mouse from the Maisy mouse childrens books) all the kids got to go get a picture with Maisy. I took my charge up there and we got pictures and she absolutely loved it. When I turned back, I saw the other nanny and her charge stand up. I thought they might come get a picture like the rest of the kids, but instead she dragged him away still looking at her phone and ignoring his question to go see Maisy. She didn't watch where she was walking obviously and as she left, the little boy walked right into a book shelf!! I was so outraged that she didn't stop at all and merely spoke harshly to her charge again and left the store.

As a nanny who takes her job seriously and really enjoys what I do, this upset me so deeply. If the parents of this little boy are reading this and it sounds like your nanny, PLEASE do something. She had both her purse and a diaper bag with her. Your child deserves someone who loves him and will treat him well!

Defining "Kid-Related" Tasks

I have a question for your nannies about what you would consider a standard for "kid-related cleaning duties"? We have just done a 2 week trial with a nanny who we really like but she has been very clear that she is a "childcare ONLY" nanny. We said ok, fine, we don't need someone to do kid laundry or that sort of thing, but she doesn't even want to load the dishwasher or tidy the playroom at the end of the day.

My kids are 15 months and almost 3 and they both nap for a MINIMUM of 2 hours per afternoon, sometimes up to 3 hours, but usually more like 2 hours 15 min or so. I'm all for the nanny having a "break" but I feel like she could take an hour break and still have time to tidy the playroom or clean up the kitchen. She DOES prepare their lunch and snacks and rinses the dishes. Anyway, I think maybe we should look for someone who is more willing to do these tasks or really someone who is willing to throw in a load of kid laundry, sort through the puzzles and match up pieces, etc. with the "free" hour+ she has every day. Or my husband suggested we lower her hourly rate from $18/hr to $10/hr for 2 hours per day when the kids are asleep. But that just gets complicated. And she has been keeping a diary of the kids naps, etc. and honestly, she has had 2.5 hours every single day but one and that was when my daughter had a little cold and she still slept 2 hours!!

What Should Nanny Do About Mom #2?

Hello nannies and parents! I actually have a sticky situation that I would really appreciate your insight on. I have been a professional career nanny for the past twelve years, and MOST of the time, I absolutely love my job! I say most of the time, because I recently accepted a full time nanny position through a local nanny agency and only two weeks in I am already thinking about quitting. Before I get into what's going on, please allow me to give you a little bit of insight about what my previous nanny jobs have been like.

When I say that I am a professional career nanny I mean: I have been exclusively nannying for the past twelve years, have child development units as well as my preschool teacher certificate, have tons of experience with multiples, tons of experience with infants and toddlers, celebrity nanny experience (both in New York and Los Angeles). All three of my last nanny positions were long term, where I was seen both as a professional nanny and an extended member of their families. In my last position, I was nannying for an infant 50 hours a week and was being paid 16 dollars per hour plus overtime for the extra 10 hours per week, was given 10 paid sick days a year and two weeks of paid vacation. Unfortunately for me, the time came for mom to get a promotion at work and they ended up moving to another state, which left me scrambling to find a new position.

To cut to the chase, I ended up going on an interview a few weeks ago for a family with a 14 month old little boy. Mom #1 works out of the home, and mom #2 (two mommy family) works from home. That was an immediate red flag to me, as I am aware of the problems that can arise for a nanny when one of the parents works from home, but because I really liked the family and the baby, I decided to accept their position when they made an offer. Unfortunately, due to the current economy, I was forced to take a position paying much less than I have been making the past 5 years. I am now making a set salary of 2500 a month for 40 hours of work a week. It is roughly 1,000 dollars less than I was making before, but I really was desperate to find a position as I had been out of work for over 6 months by the time I got the job offer.

Now, if this job were easy, I would feel much better about taking a lower salary, but to be honest, it is definitely one of the hardest positions I have ever had. Most of this stems from mom #2 working from home, as I feel that she is constantly watching every move I make with her son. Some examples of this: they live in a very small one story home with the office off of the kitchen and the living room right next to it, instead of her going into her office and working during the day, she leaves the office door wide open, I believe to keep an eye on us through out the day. Not only that, but while I am upstairs trying to put her son down for a nap, she will turn on the baby monitor that is in her office just so she can hear what is going on upstairs. If the baby cries even the slightest bit, she will come rushing upstairs to ask me why he is crying, and then take him from me to breast feed him.

He is not on a consistent schedule in regards to eating or napping and therefore is an overly fussy and needy child. At fourteen months old, his daily diet consists of something like this: am-breast milk, noon-Gerber puffs or baby crackers, pm-breast milk. Due to not being exposed to many solid foods, he often pushes them away or cries when I try to offer them to him. Nutritionally, I feel like this is so wrong, but the more I encourage the moms to feed him solids, the more they shy away from the idea. As far as the napping, the moms do not believe in forcing him to take a nap, and because of this, the poor baby has several melt downs throughout the day because he is so exhausted and is fighting his sleep. Also, mom #2 has made it a habit to hold him throughout his whole nap when he does fall asleep, and she expects me to do that as well. Not only do I think this is completely unhealthy for many reasons, but it also makes it to where it is nearly impossible for me to complete the daily household chores I am required to do.

Now on to what I believe is one of the biggest problems about the position. I was very clear in my interview with the family that I am the type of nanny that does not like to sit at home with my charges all day long. I would much rather be out and about doing fun things with them on a daily basis (and even more so now that I work for a family where one parent works from home.) During the interview, they said they were fine with this, and that they would absolutely love it! I am a very organized nanny and I provided the family with a very detailed list of activities that I would be doing with the baby during the next two months (I like to plan our outings at least a few months in advance.) When it came time for our first outing to see a children's play at a local library, and then go to a local beach for a playgroup with other children around the same age, mom told me that we could only go see the play and that she wanted us back in two hours (the play itself was two hours long, which meant that we had to leave even before the play was over to make it back in time.) I was so disappointed, as I had really been looking forward to meeting up with my nanny friends again and for the kids to be able to play and build sandcastles on the beach. I agreed, and chalked it up to mom just being nervous because it was my first week. During that whole first week, several things like this happened, and it lead to me feeling more and more uncomfortable with taking the baby out of the house at all.

Fast forward to this week. It was on our agenda on Monday, to go see a puppet show at a nearby community college. Originally, I had written down that we would be there from 3:00-4:00, but then I realized that in order to get good parking we would have to arrive at least 20-30 mins before the show started, so I crossed it out and wrote 2:30-4:30 to allow for time to get there and park, and time to get home after the show. Well, to make a long story short, the first thing mom said to me when I walked in the door this morning was "why did you change your outing from 1 hour to 2?" I explained, but she told me to make it work in the me hour time frame. I found this impossible to do, so we didn't even end up going at all. =(

Anyway, I feel stuck in this position, because I really don't want to let the nanny agency down by leaving the job. I am afraid that if I do that, they will refuse to help me find another position, and that would leave me in a really bad place, as finding my own position here right now has proven to be extremely difficult. What should I do? Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated.

Super Nice Nanny Needs Advice... and a BackBone

I've been a nanny for 15 years, and I'm great with all the "kid stuff". I am great at saying the right things to get the reaction/behavior I want from the kids. But when it comes to talking to the parents, my employers, I totally wimp out. There are things that I look for in a job like parents who NEVER work at home, who come home on time, pay a decent wage, etc. It seems like when I go to an interview and mention these things, people react negatively. I say I want a definite ending time, they take that as "I can't wait to get away from your kid and go home." If I say I don't like it when the parents work at home, they think that means I'm going to neglect the kids or do something bad in the house. In this economy, I feel kind of desperate sometimes, so I sometimes don't mention these things at the interview. Then there is always a period of me trying super nicely to ask for things like sticking to a schedule, and usually they still come home late because I am nice about it. There have been so many times when I have been seething, looking at the clock, and being furious that it is 6:45 when I'm supposed to be off at 6. Yet the minute the parent gets home, I am all smiles, and I don't even mention it that they are late. They think everything is fine because I don't get mad at them. I feel like I don't know how to stand up for myself in a way that sounds nice, but still gets them to take it seriously. I feel like after 15 years I should be better at this. Anyone have any ideas about how I can stop being a wimp without becoming rude and nasty?

Dad Has Bad Timing

Just a question for other nannies and parents. I care for a 13 month old boy from 8am-6pm, Monday through Friday. I make $400 per week. MB hands him off to me in the morning, and DB takes him from me when he gets home from work. Lately, DB has been coming home late (5 minutes here, 15 minutes there, etc) or has been in the habit of coming home 5 or 10 minutes til 6 and then 'wants to change clothes' or 'get a few things done' and ends up not taking the baby until almost 630. This has been happening 2-3 nights a week. By the end of my 10 hour day, I'm ready to leave and not being compensated to stay past 6. I occasionally stick around a few minutes and chat with MB/DB about baby's day as I put on my coat and walk to the door... but how do I approach the consistent lateness? I have a personal life after work. Nannies, what have you said to MB/DB before when they've been late? Parents, how do you let nannies know you'll be late, or how do you make up for it when you are?