Does being on time matter in this context?

[Anonymous]

This seems like a really weird schedule. I can't do a whole hell of a lot in the first 15 minutes of my workday. The idea of running into work, making a meal, then running back out, that just seems really odd. I'd be more inclined to ask if she needs to start 15 min earlier so she can have lunches ready in advance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This seems like a really weird schedule. I can't do a whole hell of a lot in the first 15 minutes of my workday. The idea of running into work, making a meal, then running back out, that just seems really odd. I'd be more inclined to ask if she needs to start 15 min earlier so she can have lunches ready in advance.

While this is a good point, I don't think it is necessary. I have one kid free day at work. And even though I have a full 7 hours without children, I still have laundry started writhing the first 15 minutes.

[Anonymous]

In 15 minutes one can come in, put away coat, throw in a load of laundry, and empty a dishwasher or make two sandwiches. It is not that hard. The laundry room isn't a half mile down the road. The dirty laundry is already sorted and waiting in laundry room.

It bothers me that she treats this as a flexible start time and leaves things for us to finish in the evening that could have been completed during work day if she arrived on time and pushed a start button on a machine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In 15 minutes one can come in, put away coat, throw in a load of laundry, and empty a dishwasher or make two sandwiches. It is not that hard. The laundry room isn't a half mile down the road. The dirty laundry is already sorted and waiting in laundry room.

It bothers me that she treats this as a flexible start time and leaves things for us to fibnish in the evening that could have been completed during work day if she arrived on time and pushed a start button on a machine.

If she leaves a load of laundry dry but not folded, why would you finish it for her? If she doesn't unload the dishwasher, why would you do it for her? If she knows you will finish her work for her, there is no motivation for her to complete her tasks!

I would talk to her and explain that you can no longer finish things for her, and ask her to think about how she can manage her time to be sure all her work is done by the end of the day on Friday. That will lead you into a discussion about what she can get done between 11:30 - 11:45.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have something specific that you'd like her to do during that time, it may be an easy way to approach it.

"Larla, could you please use the 15 minutes prior to picking up snowflake to prepare a healthy after school snack/start a load of laundry/etc.".

I think approaching it from a task point of view will be easiest. She should arrive on time.

~Career nanny

OP here. Yep, this is pretty much the thing. She never starts lunch until after pick up, even though she could. So kids eat later, nap later. She could use it to throw in a load of laundry to transfer to dryer after pick up, instead of running out of time at end of day to fold clothes (it would be done an hour earlier). She just doesn't seem to think her start time actually matters. I guess the other option is changing her start time to 11:45, which would reduce her hours for the week.

Simple solution would be to give her that option. Ask her.

Op? Btw, what are you paying her?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have something specific that you'd like her to do during that time, it may be an easy way to approach it.

"Larla, could you please use the 15 minutes prior to picking up snowflake to prepare a healthy after school snack/start a load of laundry/etc.".

I think approaching it from a task point of view will be easiest. She should arrive on time.

~Career nanny

OP here. Yep, this is pretty much the thing. She never starts lunch until after pick up, even though she could. So kids eat later, nap later. She could use it to throw in a load of laundry to transfer to dryer after pick up, instead of running out of time at end of day to fold clothes (it would be done an hour earlier). She just doesn't seem to think her start time actually matters. I guess the other option is changing her start time to 11:45, which would reduce her hours for the week.

Do you have a cup of coffee first thing when you get to office and then exchange a few pleasantries before you actually start working? If so. Shut up. You are wasting time that you should be working as you are stealing from your employer.

FWIW, I am not a nanny but I know too many people like you and you make me sick.

[Anonymous]

Why is your nanny doing the laundry....??!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have something specific that you'd like her to do during that time, it may be an easy way to approach it.

"Larla, could you please use the 15 minutes prior to picking up snowflake to prepare a healthy after school snack/start a load of laundry/etc.".

I think approaching it from a task point of view will be easiest. She should arrive on time.

~Career nanny

OP here. Yep, this is pretty much the thing. She never starts lunch until after pick up, even though she could. So kids eat later, nap later. She could use it to throw in a load of laundry to transfer to dryer after pick up, instead of running out of time at end of day to fold clothes (it would be done an hour earlier). She just doesn't seem to think her start time actually matters. I guess the other option is changing her start time to 11:45, which would reduce her hours for the week.

Simple solution would be to give her that option. Ask her.

Op? Btw, what are you paying her?

Irrelevant. A lazy nanny is a lazy nanny, whether she's paid $15/hr or $20/hr. It has been proven, time and time again, that paying above market doesn't guarantee a better nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have something specific that you'd like her to do during that time, it may be an easy way to approach it.

"Larla, could you please use the 15 minutes prior to picking up snowflake to prepare a healthy after school snack/start a load of laundry/etc.".

I think approaching it from a task point of view will be easiest. She should arrive on time.

~Career nanny

OP here. Yep, this is pretty much the thing. She never starts lunch until after pick up, even though she could. So kids eat later, nap later. She could use it to throw in a load of laundry to transfer to dryer after pick up, instead of running out of time at end of day to fold clothes (it would be done an hour earlier). She just doesn't seem to think her start time actually matters. I guess the other option is changing her start time to 11:45, which would reduce her hours for the week.

Do you have a cup of coffee first thing when you get to office and then exchange a few pleasantries before you actually start working? If so. Shut up. You are wasting time that you should be working as you are stealing from your employer.

FWIW, I am not a nanny but I know too many people like you and you make me sick.

Wow Pp you must be real sick . NP here I arrive on time or before my start time and yes may have a cup of coffee after getting any pressing tasks done. What about the arriving on time do you not understand?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In 15 minutes one can come in, put away coat, throw in a load of laundry, and empty a dishwasher or make two sandwiches. It is not that hard. The laundry room isn't a half mile down the road. The dirty laundry is already sorted and waiting in laundry room.

It bothers me that she treats this as a flexible start time and leaves things for us to fibnish in the evening that could have been completed during work day if she arrived on time and pushed a start button on a machine.

If she leaves a load of laundry dry but not folded, why would you finish it for her? If she doesn't unload the dishwasher, why would you do it for her? If she knows you will finish her work for her, there is no motivation for her to complete her tasks!

I would talk to her and explain that you can no longer finish things for her, and ask her to think about how she can manage her time to be sure all her work is done by the end of the day on Friday. That will lead you into a discussion about what she can get done between 11:30 - 11:45.

Laundry which is dry and not folded wrinkles. If she doesn't unload the dishwasher, the family can't put dirty dishes into the dishwasher. And most people don't want dirty dishes sitting in the sink overnight, or a load of clothes waiting every single night. It's not necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have something specific that you'd like her to do during that time, it may be an easy way to approach it.

"Larla, could you please use the 15 minutes prior to picking up snowflake to prepare a healthy after school snack/start a load of laundry/etc.".

I think approaching it from a task point of view will be easiest. She should arrive on time.

~Career nanny

OP here. Yep, this is pretty much the thing. She never starts lunch until after pick up, even though she could. So kids eat later, nap later. She could use it to throw in a load of laundry to transfer to dryer after pick up, instead of running out of time at end of day to fold clothes (it would be done an hour earlier). She just doesn't seem to think her start time actually matters. I guess the other option is changing her start time to 11:45, which would reduce her hours for the week.

Do you have a cup of coffee first thing when you get to office and then exchange a few pleasantries before you actually start working? If so. Shut up. You are wasting time that you should be working as you are stealing from your employer.

FWIW, I am not a nanny but I know too many people like you and you make me sick.

Wow Pp you must be real sick . NP here I arrive on time or before my start time and yes may have a cup of coffee after getting any pressing tasks done. What about the arriving on time do you not understand?!

Irrelevant, you are talking about a scenario where the person arrives on time, grabs a cup of coffee and talks for a few minutes, all while knowing that they have a few minutes. This nanny is habitually late, which pushed her charge's schedule back and leaves tasks undone. It's a completely different situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In 15 minutes one can come in, put away coat, throw in a load of laundry, and empty a dishwasher or make two sandwiches. It is not that hard. The laundry room isn't a half mile down the road. The dirty laundry is already sorted and waiting in laundry room.

It bothers me that she treats this as a flexible start time and leaves things for us to finish in the evening that could have been completed during work day if she arrived on time and pushed a start button on a machine.

Yeah you COULD and if I were at my own house I MIGHT but I'm an office worker and if I had, say, a meeting start 15 min after my start time I would 90% of the time get nothing accomplished in that first window. So I can see why she doesn't feel the need to get there on time, it's not really enough time to transition into work mode, get some work done, then leave. (I'm the poster who said it's a weird schedule). The more I think about it the more I'm thinking you wouldn't be happy if she got there 1 min early every day because your expectations for using that first 15 min of a workday aren't reasonable.

[Anonymous]

She agreed to start at 11:30 so she should arrive at 11:30.

Lots of nannies do laundry and I'm sure it was discussed that this is part of what's expected

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In 15 minutes one can come in, put away coat, throw in a load of laundry, and empty a dishwasher or make two sandwiches. It is not that hard. The laundry room isn't a half mile down the road. The dirty laundry is already sorted and waiting in laundry room.

It bothers me that she treats this as a flexible start time and leaves things for us to finish in the evening that could have been completed during work day if she arrived on time and pushed a start button on a machine.

Yeah you COULD and if I were at my own house I MIGHT but I'm an office worker and if I had, say, a meeting start 15 min after my start time I would 90% of the time get nothing accomplished in that first window. So I can see why she doesn't feel the need to get there on time, it's not really enough time to transition into work mode, get some work done, then leave. (I'm the poster who said it's a weird schedule). The more I think about it the more I'm thinking you wouldn't be happy if she got there 1 min early every day because your expectations for using that first 15 min of a workday aren't reasonable.

Part of being on time is being ready to work, not taking 5-15 minutes to get into work mode.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In 15 minutes one can come in, put away coat, throw in a load of laundry, and empty a dishwasher or make two sandwiches. It is not that hard. The laundry room isn't a half mile down the road. The dirty laundry is already sorted and waiting in laundry room.

It bothers me that she treats this as a flexible start time and leaves things for us to finish in the evening that could have been completed during work day if she arrived on time and pushed a start button on a machine.

Yeah you COULD and if I were at my own house I MIGHT but I'm an office worker and if I had, say, a meeting start 15 min after my start time I would 90% of the time get nothing accomplished in that first window. So I can see why she doesn't feel the need to get there on time, it's not really enough time to transition into work mode, get some work done, then leave. (I'm the poster who said it's a weird schedule). The more I think about it the more I'm thinking you wouldn't be happy if she got there 1 min early every day because your expectations for using that first 15 min of a workday aren't reasonable.

Part of being on time is being ready to work, not taking 5-15 minutes to get into work mode.

While I understand that perspective it seems unrealistic to me and a higher standard for your employee than most employers can expect of their employees. I am a lawyer at a large law firm and I will be goddamned if I have EVER billed either of the first .2 hours at my desk.