Cost of food.

[Anonymous]

I know you don't want to create any animosity between you and your nanny, and if you tell her you plan on docking her pay I promise you it WILL create an awkward work situation.

It is kind of you to allow her to bring her son along, this saves her from paying out childcare co$ts herself which is a huge perk. Plus, the added meals shared are also a huge perk.

I think it is best if you discuss this with her gently. I wouldn't dock her pay, but I would request that from now on she provides her own meals...Maybe you can offer to provide snacks and drinks...?? This would be a much better approach since docking someone's pay sounds really harsh.

If she is a good nanny and suits your needs to a "T," then I would tread lightly here. A good nanny is worth her weight in gold and you don't want to lose her based on food.

GL.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, find another nanny stat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, find another nanny stat.

+1 She's eating all your food, bringing her kid, then dropping him off first, and still isn't doing a halfway decent job? You can find someone better!

4:19 clearly didn't even read the whole thread because OP pretty clearly stated that she is NOT a good nanny, so she's not even worth her weight in organic cheerios, let alone gold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi Nannies and Parents,

I could use some advise. Our new nanny started around 6 weeks back, here's the situation; she will be bringing her son ( 8yrs old) to work from 8/31, he was accompanying her during the summer break too but was out for 3 weeks. He is a good, sweet kid so no problems there, although she will be dropping him first and then drop off my kids which is not my ideal scenario but i can deal with it.The problem is that our nanny and son with be eating breakfast at our home( she never brings her food), then for the rest if the day our nanny has her meals and snacks at our home. I am not a cheap person but this is taking a toll on our grocery budget. I shop all organic and I can't shop inorganic for her and her son, I simply can't put 2 types of food in my fridge. I am thinking I will ask her that I am happy to shop and provide food but I will be reducing weekly pay by 50.00, is this advisable or is there a better way to handling this without offending her and creating animosity. Many thanks in advance.

You will only allow organic food in your refrigerator? Does inorganic food shed, and cause organic food to get infected? If you would allow other food in your refrigerator you could ask your nanny to bring her own food. With that said though I don't think the food issue is your real problem with the nanny. There is a deeper issue and this is one more thing that you don't like about her. I think it would be best for all of you if you give her 2 weeks or more notice and find a new nanny. And yes she deserves at least two weeks notice as she's not putting your child in danger

[Anonymous]

OP here: No, inorganic food won't cause any harm to organic food. The reason I don't shop separately, cheaper food for her and her son is because I would hate to say that here's our food and there is your food which is cheaper, that's how I will treat someone in my house. I guess you all maybe onto something here about the deeper issue, I do think I am not at all happy with her below average performance and that makes me mad about other stuff too. I think it's time find a replacement. She is a single mom and we picked her over 2 candidates because we wanted to help her get back on her feet but she has not used a single opportunity to improve her skills rather continues to be negligent and extremely casual about her work.

The other day she took the kids for a walk, my son got bitten by some bug and had a huge bug bite on his leg, he was scratching and upset the whole time. They came back, my son ran to his dad ( DH was working from home that day) and asked him to do something, my husband asked our nanny as to what happened and she said she wasn't even aware that something had happened. Something like this shows negligent behavior and it's spilling into other areas.

[Anonymous]

*not how

[Anonymous]

Why wasn't this addressed before you hired her? I'd just ask her to bring her own food and meanwhile start looking for someone who isn't mediocre. Not sure why you're keeping her around unless she's really cheap since she's bringing her own child.

[Anonymous]

Not cheap. She is getting $1/hr less because she brings her son. That's all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here: No, inorganic food won't cause any harm to organic food. The reason I don't shop separately, cheaper food for her and her son is because I would hate to say that here's our food and there is your food which is cheaper, that's how I will treat someone in my house. I guess you all maybe onto something here about the deeper issue, I do think I am not at all happy with her below average performance and that makes me mad about other stuff too. I think it's time find a replacement. She is a single mom and we picked her over 2 candidates because we wanted to help her get back on her feet but she has not used a single opportunity to improve her skills rather continues to be negligent and extremely casual about her work.

The other day she took the kids for a walk, my son got bitten by some bug and had a huge bug bite on his leg, he was scratching and upset the whole time. They came back, my son ran to his dad ( DH was working from home that day) and asked him to do something, my husband asked our nanny as to what happened and she said she wasn't even aware that something had happened. Something like this shows negligent behavior and it's spilling into other areas.

You sound dramatic.

[Anonymous]

You need to hire someone for a job, not provide a social service. Next time, look for a nanny, not someone you hope will worship you and do anything and everything you ask because you "saved" her.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you made a bad choice and were doing the rescue syndrome vs. your kids needs first. Your kid is clearly second. I would not be ok with what you are saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again, I think we may have to look for someone else. And, no I couldn't care about her son's breakfast, but she also eats, b'fast, lunch, snacks every day. Not to mention she used out washer and drier to wash her car mats. Who does that ??

My frustration is that why do nannies assume that food is part of the compensation package. I hate it when I open to fridge in the middle of the week and can't find food because its gone and no one bothered to inform me. Our previous nanny was a wonderful woman, we loved here and I never thought about food costs because she was exceptional and worth all the extras. Anyways, thank you for letting me vent.

So what excuse did she give you whrn she quit?

We have a nanny who brings her son in thr summer and eats our food. I can't imagine being so petty as to dock her pay or even be so miserly as to mention it. I do thing thing called communication and if she uses something up she goes to the store and replaces it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not cheap. She is getting $1/hr less because she brings her son. That's all.

Yikes, OP, she is totally taking advantage of you and you need a new nanny. You should also rethink automatically providing your nanny with all her meals. This isn't common. Most nannies bring their own food and help themselves to snacks (or, on occasion, simple sandwich fixings) if the NF wants to provide that perk. Giving a nanny free reign of your food every day can significantly increase your food budget because you are feeding another adult all day! Why would you do that? Next time, when interviewing, let your nanny know you expect her to bring her own food, like most of American workers do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: No, inorganic food won't cause any harm to organic food. The reason I don't shop separately, cheaper food for her and her son is because I would hate to say that here's our food and there is your food which is cheaper, that's how I will treat someone in my house. I guess you all maybe onto something here about the deeper issue, I do think I am not at all happy with her below average performance and that makes me mad about other stuff too. I think it's time find a replacement. She is a single mom and we picked her over 2 candidates because we wanted to help her get back on her feet but she has not used a single opportunity to improve her skills rather continues to be negligent and extremely casual about her work.

The other day she took the kids for a walk, my son got bitten by some bug and had a huge bug bite on his leg, he was scratching and upset the whole time. They came back, my son ran to his dad ( DH was working from home that day) and asked him to do something, my husband asked our nanny as to what happened and she said she wasn't even aware that something had happened. Something like this shows negligent behavior and it's spilling into other areas.

You sound dramatic.

And, you must be a nanny. No mom would call this dramatic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not cheap. She is getting $1/hr less because she brings her son. That's all.

Yikes, OP, she is totally taking advantage of you and you need a new nanny. You should also rethink automatically providing your nanny with all her meals. This isn't common. Most nannies bring their own food and help themselves to snacks (or, on occasion, simple sandwich fixings) if the NF wants to provide that perk. Giving a nanny free reign of your food every day can significantly increase your food budget because you are feeding another adult all day! Why would you do that? Next time, when interviewing, let your nanny know you expect her to bring her own food, like most of American workers do.

Op said she's making $1 less to bring her child we do not know that even with an extra dollar if op is paying market rates. She could still be cheap and cheaper to her charity case