Asking a Nanny to Do a One-off Task

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a full time nanny with guaranteed hours. Our child still takes an afternoon nap, so she gets a built-in break while child sleeps. Here is my question - I took the child for a late morning excursion (1 hour) that came up unexpectedly. I asked the nanny if she would mind cleaning out the stroller with a Dustbuster while we were away. She looked at me like I was crazy to ask that. It is the stroller she uses daily and it is disgustingly covered with food crumbs in the seat and sand, etc. from the playground in the storage underneath. Was I unreasonable to ask her to clean something? The expectation has always been just to clean their playtime messes and dishes.

You must have too much spare time to post about this, or is it in anyway chronic? This one incident is water way under the bridge. So what’s your point?

[Anonymous]

if she takes the kid in the stroller and leaves it a mess, then, yes, it's part of her job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, it was ridiculous the stroller was messy in the first place. My nanny would have been embarrassed if I had to ask.

And yes, if you’re out for an hour and she’s chilling, you can absolutely leave her a list of child-related chores.

You can do this if you want vti be looking for a new nanny.

I think sometimes nannies get bent out of shape (understandably) because of the long history of domestic labor being undervalued and nannies being taken advantage of. So nannies may be overly sensitive about requests like this.

If you think of it in more general terms… an employee at your business has nothing to do for an hour. They plan on spending it in the break room scrolling their phone. You ask them to clean up from a presentation they gave earlier in the day. Seems completely reasonable, no?

[Anonymous]

Um, anything the kids use is part of our nanny's job. Stroller, car seat, high chair, kids laundry, their bedroom, playroom, etc.

[Anonymous]

Am I the only nanny who is not required to do child's laundry? My employer is fine with that. I do keep the stroller clean. It also depends on what kind of stroller you have, OP. Some old, used strollers will look gross 2 days after being thoroughly cleaned. Some are very difficult to clean. Then, in summer, there are sunscreen stains that look gross but do not wash off. Best way to clean is just to turn the stroller upside down in the park, and the squirrels will take care of the rest.

[Anonymous]

How did she even get hired? I do so many things at work that are 'not my job' that nobody else does. I also stay overtime for 20-30 minutes for free and have for 25 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only nanny who is not required to do child's laundry? My employer is fine with that. I do keep the stroller clean. It also depends on what kind of stroller you have, OP. Some old, used strollers will look gross 2 days after being thoroughly cleaned. Some are very difficult to clean. Then, in summer, there are sunscreen stains that look gross but do not wash off. Best way to clean is just to turn the stroller upside down in the park, and the squirrels will take care of the rest.

You should be responsible and attend to the child's needs. And, take better care of their stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, it was ridiculous the stroller was messy in the first place. My nanny would have been embarrassed if I had to ask.

And yes, if you’re out for an hour and she’s chilling, you can absolutely leave her a list of child-related chores.

You can do this if you want vti be looking for a new nanny.

I think sometimes nannies get bent out of shape (understandably) because of the long history of domestic labor being undervalued and nannies being taken advantage of. So nannies may be overly sensitive about requests like this.

If you think of it in more general terms… an employee at your business has nothing to do for an hour. They plan on spending it in the break room scrolling their phone. You ask them to clean up from a presentation they gave earlier in the day. Seems completely reasonable, no?

They are domestic help.

[Anonymous]

That's part of her job. She needs to pickup after all childcare messes that occur on her watch. Kid spills goldfish in the car seat- yep she needs to clean it. You're not asking her to use the upholstery cleaning tool to scrub down the stroller, you asked her to vacuum it. Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Um, anything the kids use is part of our nanny's job. Stroller, car seat, high chair, kids laundry, their bedroom, playroom, etc.

+10000 I would be upset the stroller is that gross to begin with

[Anonymous]

I would definitely tell nanny to clean stroller. I have yet to have a nanny who is enough of a self starter to do something like that without direction, but I’m sure they’d do it with instruction as mine does a lot of things like this, like cleaning sports equipment, car seats, whatever. This kind of stuff is why we have a nanny still.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, it was ridiculous the stroller was messy in the first place. My nanny would have been embarrassed if I had to ask.

And yes, if you’re out for an hour and she’s chilling, you can absolutely leave her a list of child-related chores.

You can do this if you want vti be looking for a new nanny.

PP here. No, I’ve been doing this for a year now. Thing is, my nanny is a professional and thinks it’s normal - I’d ask her to go through a closet for too-small clothes or some one-off though, if that chore was on my own lost, since she’d have the stroller clean anyways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, it was ridiculous the stroller was messy in the first place. My nanny would have been embarrassed if I had to ask.

And yes, if you’re out for an hour and she’s chilling, you can absolutely leave her a list of child-related chores.

You can do this if you want vti be looking for a new nanny.

PP here. No, I’ve been doing this for a year now. Thing is, my nanny is a professional and thinks it’s normal - I’d ask her to go through a closet for too-small clothes or some one-off though, if that chore was on my own lost, since she’d have the stroller clean anyways.

*list

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Totally normal request.

Some of you nannies sound very entitled!

Most of you mothers are lazy and entitled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did she even get hired? I do so many things at work that are 'not my job' that nobody else does. I also stay overtime for 20-30 minutes for free and have for 25 years.

Then you're a fool. I would fire an employee who stayed late everyday day because I would wonder what you're up to.