Keeping nanny FT w/ kids in school all day
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Anonymous
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We have had our nanny for 7 years and absolutely love her. My youngest is in K this year and despite both kids being in school full days (from 8:30-3) we have kept her full time (40 hrs) because DH and I work full time and both have to leave for work by 7:30am 2 overlapping days per week (the other days at least one of us is working from home, so she comes in later).
Our nanny is incredibly flexible and is happy to run errands (grocery, dry cleaning, Target runs, etc) or do laundry for the whole family. She will tidy up the house but is not a housekeeper (not cleaning toilets or dusting or other deeper cleaning). She is also not the best cook - we have asked her to prep/make dinner in the past and it has not turned out well. When she comes in those 2 early mornings we generally keep her busy from like 8:30 - 11:30am, but after then she really has nothing to do. We only have so many errands to run. She recently came to us and told us we should think about moving on from her because she has nothing to do for so many hours and she feels bad getting paid full time for much less work. I think she is bored and prefers to be busy. While we would love to pay less weekly for unused hours, I am really hesitant to walk away from full time childcare because our work schedules are not flexible and we need consistent coverage for those mornings, after school, but the plethora of school days off, summers before/after camp, etc. My friends with part time sitters regularly complain about flakiness and how frustrating it is to find sitters for part time work to begin with. Are others with demanding jobs in this position too? How do you keep your nanny happy so they stay on full time.l? Or have you found consistent part time help that is reliable? |
Anonymous
| It sounds like it may be time to shift to an au pair. |
Anonymous
| Maybe find a nanny that would appreciate this situation and add additional duties to the job description- cooking and cleaning. |
Anonymous
| Simply ask her what would she like to do during her available time. Encourage her to do it, because you would like to still maintain her relationship with the children. And you’re more than happy to pay full time. |
Anonymous
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I would keep her if you can afford to. She can babysit for a sahm mom that just needs a few hours during the day once/twice a week if she wants to. I used to do this. With the understanding Nanny kids come first and get priority if sick or have a day off.
She may have been feeling you out to see if you’re looking to let her go or not. |
Anonymous
A friend of mine had a nanny like this - same deal; two parents with inflexible jobs and lots of work travel. One of the kids ended up getting kicked out of school so now the nanny watches him during the day. |
Anonymous
I'd let her know that you really want her to stay, and ask her if she had ideas to fill her time. You say she runs errands like dry cleaning, target. What other duties could she help with? If cooking didn't go well, could she grocery shop? Could she chop veggies and fruit? Make lunches for the kids? Can she go through toys/clothes and put aside things that are worn out or broken? Can she shop for birthday gifts? Teacher gifts? Is there a neighbor SAHM like PP suggested who might need a few hours of help? Some people don't want to be a house manager, others would love it. |
Anonymous
This. Would she like to take a class during the downtime (cooking, crafts, nutrition, etc). She could use the gym or research activities for your kids when they are home on break. She could visit the library and find books for herself and the kids. |
Anonymous
| We have a situation like this. We pay based on 40 hours a week and agree to an average/true up at the end of the month. This allows us to use her for overnights on occasion. Sometimes I'll accompany DH on a work trip for a night because he's got a nice hotel room and we'll go to dinner then a concert. It's been good for our marriage. We never go over a 40-hour per week average, so it's not like we're taking advantage. We really need a fulltime, reliable nanny so it's worth it for us. |
Anonymous
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Tell her to babysit a couple late mornings per week for a SAHM looking to get out 1-2x per week. She can make double $$$$.
Stick an ad up on Next Door or ask around the neighborhood for her. I can almost guarantee someone would jump at this. |
Anonymous
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Let her do some personal stuff on the clock
-take classes -go to gym -go to her home for several hours etc |
Anonymous
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She should indeed be available to watch a few children for people who may need it few hour in the middle of the day.
She can always tell them she can't if your own children need her. |
Anonymous
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We kept ours until the kids could stay home by themselves and had her work 1 weekend night a week so we could go out.
We also paid for 1 community class during the day. She ended up working about 28 hours a week, it was worth it to us. |
Anonymous
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We let go our nanny of 5 years when our son went to kindergarten.
It is so hard to find part time help, I offer $25/hr, guaranteed hours, paid holidays and paid leave. I have to find another person to help in the fall because our nanny got pregnant and can’t work anymore. It is exhausting. She quit without notice. I have a flexible schedule and can manage it, but it is hard. If your job is not flexible, do everything you can to keep her. |
Anonymous
| Don’t let her go! Tel her she can do other things during that time. Does she live close to you? Could she go home? |