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| Screaming Inside by Annie Whatever |
Here's my stance: if I'm getting paid my lowest rate, no I won't do your laudry, clean your trashed house on Mondays, or wash the dirty dishes that you just can't seem to fit in the empty dishwasher (or the pot that you have left "soaking" for a week in the sink.) If I agreed to work my lowest rate, that means we agreed ahead of time that I will not be responsible for cleaning up after two grown adults. I will be pretty offended if you go back on your word and expect me to clean up after you. I will quit if I come over for my shift one day to find out (suprise!) You took a vacation day to "take the baby off my hands" and ask me to spend the day doing the things that your housekeeper (who you recently fired) used to do when she made almost 3 times as much as you pay me.
That being said, I'm a nanny, yes. I would not take a job as a maid or housekeeper. However, I'm not too good to do laundry or clean dirty dishes. If the family needs me to clean up after the parents too, that's fine, as long as it was discussed ahead of time and I am being compensated appropriately. Of course, there is a limit. I won't clean up after a family of slobs who leave their dirty underwear on the table. Don't poop on the floor. Rinse your dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Throw your trash away. And for the love of Nannygod, don't leave your lovemaking tools out. Act like a responsible adult, clean up after yourself, have respect for this expensive home of yours, and I would be glad to get paid 6 extra dollars an hour to do your laundry, cook dinner, and vacuum once a week when the cleaners don't come.
Let's not be spoiled. There's nothing wrong with housework. Many jobs include cleaning. (To state a few: waitressing, receptionist, nurse, paramedic, fast food, cooking at a restaurant, caregiver, day care center) It comes with the territory of being a nanny. If you don't like it, this might not be the job for you. A little advice from me: be clear about your expectations in your interview. If you want to be paid extra for housework, tell them how much. If you don't want to do housework period, tell them that, and don't agree to do "light housekeeping." -Nannyrobot
20 comments:
It's not spoiled to have standards. You're willing to clean up after adults? Bully for you! I'm not! I won't lift a finger towards house cleaning. So what if waitresses/waiters clean. So do many other people! They're ok doing it. I'm not and don't take jobs where cleanup/laundry/pet care/ trash clean up is expected of me. There's nothing wrong if someone wants to do it and is paid properly for it. The issue is that when you agree to do deep cleaning/laundry for adults/dishes, you give parents the mistaken impression that other nannies will also do it. You seem angry because you're underpaid and overworked. You should be! But take it out on your boss. Stop working for low pay and accepting poor treatment.
Being a straight up nanny who doesn't want to do housekeeping is fine. Being a nanny who helps out with household things is fine as well. All nannies need to stop getting after one another over what THEY choose to do in their nanny careers. I do the families laundry, vacuum and do the dishes for the family I nanny for. You don't like it to bad. It's MY family Not Yours. They made the choice to have Me no one else care for their children while giving up precious time with them. So helping out when kids are in school or napping what's it your concern. If I can help them out so the weekends they can spend more time with the kids then great!
If your happy with your current situation , good for you. Personally, I do housework related to the children only. Of course sometimes here and there I'll do something extra especially if the family is nice to me but overall any housework revolve strictly around the kids. Now , if the family would want me to look after their belongings as well and clean after them , i would say why not but with appropriate compensation as I would make a transition from simply being a Nanny to become a Nanny/housekeeper .
My first nanny refused to even load the dishes that she and my baby used into the dishwasher (and this was when my daughter was an infant and slept up to 4 hours per day!!!) She would rinse things and leave them in the sink for me to load when I got home. I asked her directly if she could load the dishes if I left the dishwasher empty each morning she refused. She said she was a "childcare only" nanny. My daughter loved her so I didn't think this was worth getting a new nanny over but after she moved away and we got a new nanny who picked up after herself (and did baby laundry...not adult) I realized I should have put MY foot down about it.
I understand wanting to set boundaries but cleaning up after yourself and the children (until they are old enough to help or do it themselves) should be part of every nanny's job. Amirite?
I clean up after myself and the children, of course. I keep the house maintained to the order it was in when I arrived. If your house is trashed, expect it to be trashed when you get home. I am not here to maintain orderliness when you cannot, however I am open to being paid more to care for things.
I will put dishes in the dish washer or wash by hand the dishes that the children and I use daily. I will vaccuum up crumbs if we have toast, etc. I will even scrub the floor if little Timmy gets a stain on the carpet, because it's a task related TO CHILDREN.
But if you want a housekeeper, I charge an extra $5 an hour on top of my nanny rate ($15.00). Mostly because that's a lot of work to do during one day; kids AND household tasks. Most PARENTS don't have the ability to clean the house and wrangle the kids at the same time, so expecting me to do it means you pay. A lot.
From a nanny: YES.
If I want to be a nanny/housekeeper, I'll apply for such a job. As it happens, I'm a nanny because I love having the ability to nurture children without having to tear away my attention from them to give to other tasks that I don't find as rewarding or enjoyable. If I am upfront about this and a family hires me anyway, could that possibly be because they like the idea their nanny spends all her efforts on their children? And if so, what's it to you?
As it happens, I do a lot of unpaid extra things, but only because I choose to do so. If you hire a nanny and expect a nanny/housekeeper/chef/personal assistant etc., you're not going to have a happy nanny (assuming she stays), and how is that good for your child? Parents should avoid this by simply hiring what they need in the first place; if you can't afford to hire someone who will fill several roles, decide which role you need most and hire for that.
I never use the phrase "as it happens" IRL yet used it twice here. This is why we need an edit button. Gah!
I agree with many of the PPs. If a nanny CHOOSES to do housekeeping AS WELL as her nanny duties. It is perfectly FINE as long as the parents understand that this is an ADDITIONAL service and REQUIRES additional pay! I will put the dishes baby and I use in the dishwasher, wipe down counters, and clean under high chair and will put baby's clothes in the laundry. I do nothing else, because for me that's the housekeeper's/mom's job. Here this combination of responsibilities is done by a household manager who does a LOT and is paid at least 35/40 per hour in my location. Nothing gets my ire up more than a family who pays 10-12 per hour (already a ridiculously low wage) and expects housekeeping on top of it! If you want more, pay more- and hire someone willing to do more!
Sorry, you have it wrong. I'm a nurse and I'm absolutely not expected to clean up after anyone. A nanny should be paying attention to the child, and if the child makes a mess, yes of course you should clean it. But cleaning up after a family? Absolutely not unless we discussed it and we came to an agreed price.
Nanny of 30 years....you're nanny was a jerk. Nannies are too clean up after themselves and baby/child while under care. Loading a dishwasher is no big deal. Hand washing dishes outside of nanny use is a bit much. Light pick up after nanny and kids is typical..... Picking up the the house after a crazy weekend is not.
Unskilled, unprofessional nannies are doing slave labor and making parents think this is acceptable. Yes, your lack of conviction and self esteem is making my nanny job harder. Stop graveling. I don't ask my electrician to mow my lawn or my housepainter to fix a garbage disposal, but you damn bet if I did, I would be charged for the job!
@betternannybarbara you're dead on! A lot of times this happens when a nanny undervalues her/him/self. Taking care of a child in a professional manner is worth a lot! Many of us have years of experience and or specialized degrees in child development. I'm not wasting all of that on a family who doesn't appreciate me so I can do their housekeeping. Heck! There are weeks when I have my housekeeping professionally done because of a busy work week. As someone stated above, if a nanny wants to and is paid for it, by all means do it. One of my friends quit nannying when she found out the housekeeper made 189 for three hours of work. She now works 20 hrs per week housekeeping. That's great for her! I enjoy spending time with my kids, so I prefer nannying.
There's a reason why some nannies only work until a child is ready for pre-school. You make yourself an essential employee for the entire family, not just catering for the child. It's why some of us stay in jobs 10 plus years and get 10 or even 20 thousand dollar raises. The day of the childcare only is reserved for those who specialize such as baby nurses. You're limiting your potential and your markability.
Everyone is assuming I am desperate and groveling. As I said in the article, I won't do housework without extra pay. But if the family needs me to do it and is willing to pay extra and I have time, I will do it. I currently make twice the amount I would charge for a family that I wouldn't clean for. My point was, I'm not too good to do housework. Housework is not below me. But I do expect to be paid for it. That's not groveling. That's not desperation. That's making myself more important for the family to keep around and increasing my salary.
By the way, I'm not unskilled or unprofessional. I am one of the most qualified nannies in my area.
Non Status Quo: I neither have nor seek to possess potential in housekeeping. I don't like cleaning my own house; why would I want to clean yours? I'm perfectly happy to limit my marketability to jobs I actually want to have. I am aware that a family's needs will change when the children go to school, but I'll get a great reference with which to help find my next family. I remain in contact with all my NFs, so while a transition is change it doesn't have to be loss.
betternannybarbara: As a superior nanny possessing the confidence others lack, anything that you allow in your position is surely your responsibility. After all, you have the conviction to set standards for yourself and insure employers heed them, so how could inferior nannies possibly make your job harder?
The bottom line is, we each set acceptable standards for ourselves, and someone else's not matching yours does not make them inferior.
@notstatusquo I am highly sought after, VERY well paid and stay with my families a long time. ALL withOUT having to clean someone else's house! Again, if this is something thar you like and WISH to do, more power to you. But don't try to convince novice nannies that this is the ONLY way to be well-paid and sought after as a nanny. Household nannies- who do everything- make good money but so do specialized NON cleaning nannies!
@nannyrobot I guess different strokes for different folks. I "make myself more important for the family to keep around and increasing my salary." WITHOUT doing housework. So your argument that you houseclean to keep/get a high paying job is moot. You CAN make $$$$$ AND have longevity without becoming a maid. You do sound desperate to me. JS.
I parted ways with my nanny over exactly this issue. I said "light housekeeping" in the ad I posted (and she responded to) but she pointedly refused to so much as load a coffee cup in the dishwasher. I would leave for work in the morning, leave a coffee cup on the counter, and when I came home it would still be there. It began to drive me crazy. I would never spend the day in another person's home -whether they were paying me or not - and not put the freaking coffee cup in the dishwasher.
The way I think about this is how I approach MY job - I do what needs doing in the office because thats the way to be a good colleague and employee. Not because I'm nickel and diming my boss for every single task I do. And if someone leaves a coffee cup on the counter in the office kitchen, I usually load it in the dishwasher.
Thats how professionals approach their jobs - by pitching in, and doing what needs to be done. I'm totally sure some families have unreasonable expectations or demands with this stuff - but I find this attitude of "I'm not lifting a finger unless its been explicitly agreed to and compensated" to be unprofessional.
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