Nanny often takes DS out for a muffin/juice snack or lunch...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. I cannot afford to take my son out to lunch so I certainly cannot afford for my nanny to do it. Our loving and wonderful nanny is very generous with my son - gifts, outings and food - that she pays for out of her own pocket and we are very appreciative.

People on this board must stop thinking that people who pay top dollar for educated and experienced nannies are all wealthy. We sacrifice to have the best possible nanny for our child. She is worth her hourly rate and then some -- but she also know that we cannot afford extras.

That's nice that she does this for your son, but it really isn't her responsibility to be paying for your child's food and outings on a regular basis. It really isn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I cannot afford to take my son out to lunch so I certainly cannot afford for my nanny to do it. Our loving and wonderful nanny is very generous with my son - gifts, outings and food - that she pays for out of her own pocket and we are very appreciative.

People on this board must stop thinking that people who pay top dollar for educated and experienced nannies are all wealthy. We sacrifice to have the best possible nanny for our child. She is worth her hourly rate and then some -- but she also know that we cannot afford extras.

That's nice that she does this for your son, but it really isn't her responsibility to be paying for your child's food and outings on a regular basis. It really isn't.

NP here - even if they are outings she's decided on her own to do? There are plenty of things to do as outings that wouldn't cost the nanny anything, even baking muffins with the child and then taking some to the park for a picnic, along with a thermos of milk or juice. (This is what dd's nanny did. Very frugal but nonetheless good at creating special occasions.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I cannot afford to take my son out to lunch so I certainly cannot afford for my nanny to do it. Our loving and wonderful nanny is very generous with my son - gifts, outings and food - that she pays for out of her own pocket and we are very appreciative.

People on this board must stop thinking that people who pay top dollar for educated and experienced nannies are all wealthy. We sacrifice to have the best possible nanny for our child. She is worth her hourly rate and then some -- but she also know that we cannot afford extras.

That's nice that she does this for your son, but it really isn't her responsibility to be paying for your child's food and outings on a regular basis. It really isn't.

NP here - even if they are outings she's decided on her own to do? There are plenty of things to do as outings that wouldn't cost the nanny anything, even baking muffins with the child and then taking some to the park for a picnic, along with a thermos of milk or juice. (This is what dd's nanny did. Very frugal but nonetheless good at creating special occasions.)

Yes even then. It's one thing for a nanny to occasionally spend money on a treat. You should be paying for play classes, zoo passes etc.
Did you also expect your nanny to pay for the ingredients for the muffins or the milk or juice used for the outing?

[Anonymous]

You can offer, but you are not obligated to.

There is a good chance that she is doing it because she WANTS to do it.

I am a nanny to an adorable little two-yr. old boy. We go on little walks around his house + occasionally I will purchase him some kid's meal or an ice cream cone, etc. I don't expect his parent's to reimburse me for it, in fact I want to buy this stuff for him because I love doing it for him.

We have a little friendly bond and I know it won't be forever that I will have these little opportunities to do this stuff w/him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I cannot afford to take my son out to lunch so I certainly cannot afford for my nanny to do it. Our loving and wonderful nanny is very generous with my son - gifts, outings and food - that she pays for out of her own pocket and we are very appreciative.

People on this board must stop thinking that people who pay top dollar for educated and experienced nannies are all wealthy. We sacrifice to have the best possible nanny for our child. She is worth her hourly rate and then some -- but she also know that we cannot afford extras.

That's nice that she does this for your son, but it really isn't her responsibility to be paying for your child's food and outings on a regular basis. It really isn't.

NP here - even if they are outings she's decided on her own to do? There are plenty of things to do as outings that wouldn't cost the nanny anything, even baking muffins with the child and then taking some to the park for a picnic, along with a thermos of milk or juice. (This is what dd's nanny did. Very frugal but nonetheless good at creating special occasions.)

Yes even then. It's one thing for a nanny to occasionally spend money on a treat. You should be paying for play classes, zoo passes etc.
Did you also expect your nanny to pay for the ingredients for the muffins or the milk or juice used for the outing?

WHAT?! OP (and another poster) aren't talking about paying for the aquarium, zoo, museum, classes, etc. Of course if the parent wants the nanny to take the child to those events, the parent needs to pay for them. What we're talking about here is a nanny taking her charge to Starbucks on the way to/from the playground, park or event. So other than perhaps leaving $10 a week for petty cash, I wouldn't say you needed to pay for that stuff. Nanny doesn't have to go to Starbucks on the way to playground, could take snacks from home, etc. And, of course the mother whose nanny made muffins paid for all the ingredients!

And, yes, it's nice that the nanny wants to go to Starbucks and have a latte and gets a muffin for your child. But it's not a mandatory part of her day, not something that is required, so it's out of the goodness of her heart (or her incredible need for a latte) and I think it's nice!

[Anonymous]

Maybe she hates to cook or pack lunches. If that's the case, you'll have to meet in the middle with a real solution. Paying her to out half the time is not a solution.

[Anonymous]

The family I used to work for ( not a nanny anymore) used to pay for these types of things for all of us.
I would keep all my receipts, I used my credit card mostly but sometimes cash. Once a month I would total it up and let them know how much they owed me.
I think at the least you could provide some petty cash every couple of weeks for her.

[Anonymous]

To the PP that cant afford these extras, Im genuinely curious, How do you justify paying for nanny if it leaves you that short on money?
Im not meaning to be rude. I used to be a nanny and now i'm a Mom of one. Our HHI is $100,000 so for us to pay $40,000 a year for a nanny would leave us short too. We have DD in a wonderful daycare that she loves and we have money to eat out, go on vacations, buy starbucks if we feel like it. I cant imagine paying more for childcare and sacrificing the lifestyle we currently have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the PP that cant afford these extras, Im genuinely curious, How do you justify paying for nanny if it leaves you that short on money?
Im not meaning to be rude. I used to be a nanny and now i'm a Mom of one. Our HHI is $100,000 so for us to pay $40,000 a year for a nanny would leave us short too. We have DD in a wonderful daycare that she loves and we have money to eat out, go on vacations, buy starbucks if we feel like it. I cant imagine paying more for childcare and sacrificing the lifestyle we currently have.

PP here. We didn't want daycare. Our nanny is a former preschool teacher and we knew from the moment we interviewed her that we wanted her to care for your baby. I don't mind sacrificing for the best care possible for my son and our nanny truly is the best possible care.

[Anonymous]

I sometimes treat my charge to speak outings, and often do lunch with a group of nannies and all the kids. I have never asked for reimbursement, but MB and DB have always kicked in a few bucks. If I don't tell them the cost they go so far as to look up the cost of metro fare themselves and estimate the cost of a snack. I take their generosity to mean that they appreciate the time I spend making our day special and the benefit of DD being in the company of other kids and loving nannies. It isn't about how else I could generate those benefits, just an aknowledgement of what I do do. I also never feel entitled to their cash, just highly appreciated by them.

[Anonymous]

* special outings*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I cannot afford to take my son out to lunch so I certainly cannot afford for my nanny to do it. Our loving and wonderful nanny is very generous with my son - gifts, outings and food - that she pays for out of her own pocket and we are very appreciative.

People on this board must stop thinking that people who pay top dollar for educated and experienced nannies are all wealthy. We sacrifice to have the best possible nanny for our child. She is worth her hourly rate and then some -- but she also know that we cannot afford extras.

That's nice that she does this for your son, but it really isn't her responsibility to be paying for your child's food and outings on a regular basis. It really isn't.

NP here - even if they are outings she's decided on her own to do? There are plenty of things to do as outings that wouldn't cost the nanny anything, even baking muffins with the child and then taking some to the park for a picnic, along with a thermos of milk or juice. (This is what dd's nanny did. Very frugal but nonetheless good at creating special occasions.)

Winter is not the best time of the year for muffins in the park. Maybe some money for bad weather.

[Anonymous]

OP, you get to decide what you're willing to pay for. If you're fine with multiple trips to Starbucks for junk food each week (clearly I would not be), then you should provide cash for the nanny to do it.

If you're not fine with it, either because of cost or because your kid is eating muffins an awful lot, then you need to say something. You could do any of the following
1) Set a limit on restaurant "treats" for your child. Once a week? Once in a blue moon? Only when you've been asked and authorized it? Only during a special outing (like to the zoo)?
2) Set a weekly or monthly petty cash limit for treats and incidental expenses. This would be my choice if I didn't care about the food choices; nanny can use it up, and then if she wants more muffins, she can pay for them.
3) Provide more treats that the nanny can pack for kid snack. Or, ask the nanny if she likes to cook, and have her bake with the kid.

If the issue is that the nanny likes to go to Starbucks to hang out for awhile every day, you also need to decide if that's a daily outing you want your kid to be doing, or if you would prefer more kid-related spots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you get to decide what you're willing to pay for. If you're fine with multiple trips to Starbucks for junk food each week (clearly I would not be), then you should provide cash for the nanny to do it.

If you're not fine with it, either because of cost or because your kid is eating muffins an awful lot, then you need to say something. You could do any of the following
1) Set a limit on restaurant "treats" for your child. Once a week? Once in a blue moon? Only when you've been asked and authorized it? Only during a special outing (like to the zoo)?
2) Set a weekly or monthly petty cash limit for treats and incidental expenses. This would be my choice if I didn't care about the food choices; nanny can use it up, and then if she wants more muffins, she can pay for them.
3) Provide more treats that the nanny can pack for kid snack. Or, ask the nanny if she likes to cook, and have her bake with the kid.

If the issue is that the nanny likes to go to Starbucks to hang out for awhile every day, you also need to decide if that's a daily outing you want your kid to be doing, or if you would prefer more kid-related spots.

+1
We don't have petty cash since we buy food, snacks etc in bulk and everything is stocked up. We hired a nanny who is willing and able to cook for her charge so she can pack food as needed for any outings.

[Anonymous]

Our nanny takes our DD (and DS, if he's out of school) out maybe once a week, and/or will buy her a snack. DH and I try to leave $10 or so but don't always remember; I try to make sure I add a little extra in to her check. I honestly don't feel like she cares or that we "owe" her, as she is a generous person (and also does occasional gifts for our kids), but I feel like it's the right thing to do.

Sure, it is partly because she is our employee and she makes less than we do, but the truth is, if one of our kids gets taken to Starbucks or wherever on a play date I generally offer to pay the other mom back.