1) Respect my time. I arrive 10-15 before my start time Every. Single. Day. so that I am settled in and I can help the parents get out the door on time. I expect the same thing in return. I don’t expect a parent to return home earlier than my end time, but a prompt arrival at the planned time is key to my sanity (and happiness in a position). I understand- shit happens. And when it does shoot me a text.
2) Respect my authority with your children. You, as a parent have the power to make or break the relationship between your nanny and your children. You set the rules, and I uphold them. But DO NOT have a different set of rules when you are home. Because that shit won’t fly with me. Your child will hate me for enforcing rules that they only have to follow when I’m around. They will think that I a ‘just being mean’ or ‘making up my own rules’. And please, for the love of all that is good, and pure, DO NOT QUESTION OR UNDERMINE ME in front of the children. Please please please DO question my methods or the fairness of how I treat your children!!! Just make for damn sure they are not around to hear it. I love open lines of communication between the parents and I, but you make my job a whole hell of a lot harder when you do that in front of the children. Please don’t say anything along the lines of: "Oh, I'm sure if you give Nanny Charne a hug and say sorry she'll let you off time out!" No. No I fucking won't, he does need to say sorry, but that won't get him out of time out. You do the crime, you pay the time.
3) Respect that I love your child, and they love me. Please emotionally prepare yourself for this BEFORE you hire a nanny. If you can’t accept this you are going to have a hard time bonding with your nanny. Bonding with your nanny is so important! It shows your children that your nanny is someone to love and trust. It makes your job easier (think: no screaming kids when you leave for work in the morning) and the nannies job easier by the same standard. If you can’t stand the thought of your child sharing a deep emotional bond with anyone other than you and your spouse, you may want to seriously reconsider hiring a nanny.
4) Respect that as much as I truly love what I do, this is a job for me. I love your child, mostly because I am a person who love all children. I am not a nanny because I couldn’t find another job or I was looking for an ‘easy way to make money’. I LOVE working with children and I LOVE children. That being said, please pay me promptly of the agreed upon date and sufficiently for the hour and rate previously discussed. Don’t be the parent who constantly ‘forgets’ to pay on payday or consistently pays $20-$30 short of earnings. Because imagine how upset you would be if your boss forgot to pay you or didn’t pay you what you earned. Just don’t do it. Because I can forgive an occasional slip up and mistake, but if it’s a pattern I will mention it. And it will be awkward (for you).
5) Respect that I am a nanny, NOT your housekeeper. As your nanny you can ask me to tidy up behind myself and the children. You may even be able to get me to do your children’s laundry. But I don’t scrub floors or clean bathrooms or wash your clothing or bedding. I also don’t pick up after the dog. Respect this.
6) Please don’t ask me to turn off my phone upon arrival or to not play music during the day. You can respectfully ask that I silence my phone and that I do not spend more time on it than I do interacting with your children, because that is reasonable. However, asking me to never touch my phone or respond to the occasional text is unreasonable. Same goes for music. You can ask me not to play rude or explicit music or not to blast the music, but last time I checked, listening to Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Sharp fit in none of those categories.
7) Please don’t micromanage the day. Please leave suggestions for outings if you have any. I will stick to a child’s schedule. But don’t be the parent who writes out ‘Breakfast: 8:04am. Free play: 8:05am to 8:21am. Drawing: 8:22am to 8:34am Potty break: 8:35am'; and so on. Because I will go nuts, and your child will probably cry due to the lack of spontaneity and the tediously planned day.
-OhTHATNanny
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1 comment:
Period. The End.. Great Job OP!!!
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