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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Nanny here.  A good nanny can be a lifesaver.  
My tasks:
All kid laundry (towels and bedding too)
Weekly grocery run
Weekly dry cleaning run
I prep all kid food (including homemade purees for the baby and leaving leftovers for the weekends) and I make family dinner 3 nights per week.
I make sure there is always toilet paper and baby wipes and paper towels
I manage all the random emails about school field trips, snack sign up, soccer games, ballet performances, etc.
I keep the family calendar updated with important dates and set up kid appointments and make sure everyone has their vaccinations and dentist checkups and all that stuff.
I manage the kids’ wardrobes.  I shop off-season sales and rotate clothes each season and measure their feet and buy new shoes and winter coats and swim suits each year.

Basically I take on as much as possible of the logistical/mental load of parenting.  My employers come home to kids who are bathed and ready to sit down to a family dinner and do the bedtime routine.[/quote]

How do you get so much done with a baby?? Do you have hours you’re working but not caring for the kids?[/quote]

Kids are kindergartener, 3yo and 6 month old.  3yo is in preschool 9 hours per week.  I have a lot of experience with babies so 6mo is on a good schedule and naps regularly, so I do get some time most weeks when everyone is either asleep or at school.

I take the baby on my grocery run after nap.  Laundry is just about getting into a good routine (I put in the washer after bath then switch to the dryer after bed then fold while the baby plays and the 3yo has quiet time. Cooking we mostly do together, and I only make family dinner on the days when the 3yo has preschool so that’s manageable.  The kids eat a lot of fresh fruit and veggies so it is mostly just washing and chopping and that keeps it simple for me.

All the logistical/paperwork stuff isn’t super time-consuming, it is more about staying organized.  I have a dedicated email just for kid-related stuff that I check regularly with a few minutes set aside and then immediately print out forms and fill them out and tape to the fridge for signatures.  As soon as I pick kids up we go through their bag/backpack and their art goes into a bin to be sorted (and mostly tossed) once a month and the papers go into a file folder for signatures or for me to add to my calendar or whatever it requires in response.  Takes 2 minutes but you just have to be consistent and do it daily and right away so that you can deal with it all when you have 15 minutes free a few times a week.

For rotating clothes: In a spare closet downstairs I have a row of cheap pop-up laundry hampers labeled with different sizes so when I shop sales off-season I just toss the stuff into the correct bin for later, and of course some things are passed down.  So when I rotate clothes it takes about an hour per kid per season to pull out things that are off-season and replace with appropriate stuff from the bin and then order online anything needed to fill the gap.  I just did this yesterday for the 3yo and she needs pajamas and more waterproof mittens, so the preseason stock-up got me most of what I needed.

I also work long hours (7-6:30), so there is always time to squeeze in a few minutes of random tasks somewhere.

My current rate is $21 aince I have a lot of guaranteed overtime and 3 weeks’ vacation.[/quote]

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