Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Nanny here who has made this transition a few times. First, keep in mind that school is not even remotely adequate childcare. They attend school about 190 days. There are about 260 non-weekend days in a year. So assuming your kids are never sick and never have a snow day, she is already going to be doing full days with all the kids home for 60 days a year. My point is to remember that a big part of what you are paying for is the privilege of not having to obsess over finding camps and babysitters for all the school breaks during the year, having the freedom to enroll in no camps or half-day camps during summer, never stressing about whether you can manage to stay home with your kid who has a fever…THAT is the biggest service she provides but if you’ve never parented without that safety net you may be tempted to take it for granted.
That said, here is some of the stuff I do:
1) Manage everything for kids’ laundry, including rotating clothes seasonally and making sure everyone has the clothes and shoes and outerwear they need in the size they need. I also wash and remake kids’ sheets weekly and launder all the hand towels and kitchen towels.
2) Keeping all the staples in the house stocked (bringing toilet paper to all the bathrooms, making sure we have hand soap and dish soap and laundry detergent, etc.)
3) Prep all kids’ lunches/snacks for school/the drive home. Plan and prep family dinner 4 nights a week. Grocery shop for all the above.
4) Manage kids’ schedules, including researching activities/camps, making a spreadsheet of options and then enrolling them in whatever the parents select. I also stay on top of things like the unending spirit days, bring X to school for whatever holiday, and jump on signups for things like class parties or field trip chaperones or reading to the class. If the parents can’t make it to an event, I can always go and it can be really hard for them to stay on top of the 20 different kinds of communications the school/PTA/teacher/room parent sends each week to sign up before the slots are full.
5) I manage all the kids’ medical stuff. Obviously if there’s an issue the parents come to the appointments too, but for standard dentist checkups, flu shots, sports physicals, I do it so the parents don’t have to take time off of work.
I don’t do full housekeeper responsibilities, but I do also help fold parents, cleaned, laundry, keep the kitchen tidy between meals and vacuum regularly.
Does it bother you to be doing the mother’s job?
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