Anonymous wrote:Currently we have a live-out nanny and 1 child. We are expecting a second child and then about the time my maternity leave ends our nanny's contract ends. We like our nanny, she gets along great with our child and she had good judgment, but between Covid and the recent snow days, there have been a lot of days she hasn't been able to come to work (either due to being exposed to Covid through a family member or because she lives far away and it wasn't safe to drive in). That just isn't sustainable for our 2 working parent household. So I was thinking that switching to a live-in nanny would be better. I think it would be better because if nanny lived in there would be no days where she couldn't get to work and the likelihood that she has a covid exposure that is separate from our family would be lower. If it weren't for covid I probably wouldn't be considering this as husband and I are both introverts and don't really want another person in our space.
In terms of physical space, we have a single family home with a basement. There is a large bedroom and a separate bathroom (but not ensuite) that would be the nanny's. The main play space is also in the basement, along with our home gym, and an adult rec/tv room that my husband mostly uses to watch sports at night. I assume my husband would need to move his sports watching out of that space and we'd need to stop using that bathroom (only used occasionally now so not a big deal.) Clearly the nanny would be using the kitchen (no kitchen in basement) to cook meals and would be around, but what other things am I not thinking about?
Do live in nanny's tend to hang out in their rooms at night? What do folks see as the significant pros/cons of having a live in nanny? Just want to make sure I am thinking through everything before deciding one way or the other.
You’re not thinking that the living situation for a live-in nanny sounds bleak! You’ll never find a quality nanny to agree to a basement bedroom!
Talk to your current nanny about possibly staying over during forecasted storms as well as her current covid protocols. Changing nannies while bringing home a new baby is a terrible thing to do to a toddler. Covid is effecting everyone on the planet so roll with the disruptions in your work schedule.