Nanny and 'housekeeper' duties

[Anonymous]

This would be fine as long as you title the job position:Nanny/Housekeeper and not simply Nanny because like you stated, a Nanny's position is typically childcare ONLY.

There are some nannies who don't mind working as a housekeeper as well....As long as they make more per hour cleaning vs. when they are caring for the children.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with pp's. Seems reasonable to ask. I would actually go so far as to spend some time actually breaking it down and figuring out how much time it takes to do the things you are asking of her. For example if lo has preschool 15 minutes away and it's three hours long, she has 2.5 hours:
Clean kitchen; unload dishwasher, do dishes, wipe down counters, sweep, mop (45 min)
Laundry; wash, dry, fold, put away- 25 minutes/load x two loads (50 min)
Wipe down bathroom sinks and mirrors, change handtowels, wipe any visible spots - 10 min x 2 bathrooms (20 minutes)
Vacuum kitchen and playroom (15 min)
Make lunch (10 min)

If you are expecting her to grocery shop, I would expect shopping, cleaning out fridge, and putting new food away to take at least 2 hours. So she may be able to do that and clean the kitchen and that's it.

I did most of this, with the exception of the bathrooms and mopping, in the course of a regular day (twin charges and a family with a 6 month old and 3 yo, for those who need to know). Many nannies-though there are a bunch on here who will disagree-consider these duties normal as they relate to child care.

I would suggest you find a nanny who is ok with these types of "housekeeping" duties and then hire a cleaning service 2 times a month for bathrooms, mopping, deep cleaning. I'd venture you would save money in the long run and have a better pool of nanny candidates as well.

You did near full housekeeping on top of 4 kids? Please tell us your secret.

What was your hourly pay for all that?

Each family was 2 kids, I was paid in the $16-18 range. I am college educated and have 8+ years of experience.

That rate is pathetic for the DC area.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for all the input. I see there is some difference in opinion on how much a nanny/housekeeper could or should accomplish, and I'll try to keep that in mind. I thought it overall made more sense to hire one person to work full-time for us instead of an odd split schedule or multiple part-time help with house and kids.

I will certainly be completely upfront and discuss exactly what we're looking for when we start searching. We're relocating, so this isn't in the DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with pp's. Seems reasonable to ask. I would actually go so far as to spend some time actually breaking it down and figuring out how much time it takes to do the things you are asking of her. For example if lo has preschool 15 minutes away and it's three hours long, she has 2.5 hours:
Clean kitchen; unload dishwasher, do dishes, wipe down counters, sweep, mop (45 min)
Laundry; wash, dry, fold, put away- 25 minutes/load x two loads (50 min)
Wipe down bathroom sinks and mirrors, change handtowels, wipe any visible spots - 10 min x 2 bathrooms (20 minutes)
Vacuum kitchen and playroom (15 min)
Make lunch (10 min)

If you are expecting her to grocery shop, I would expect shopping, cleaning out fridge, and putting new food away to take at least 2 hours. So she may be able to do that and clean the kitchen and that's it.

I did most of this, with the exception of the bathrooms and mopping, in the course of a regular day (twin charges and a family with a 6 month old and 3 yo, for those who need to know). Many nannies-though there are a bunch on here who will disagree-consider these duties normal as they relate to child care.

I would suggest you find a nanny who is ok with these types of "housekeeping" duties and then hire a cleaning service 2 times a month for bathrooms, mopping, deep cleaning. I'd venture you would save money in the long run and have a better pool of nanny candidates as well.

You did near full housekeeping on top of 4 kids? Please tell us your secret.

What was your hourly pay for all that?

Each family was 2 kids, I was paid in the $16-18 range. I am college educated and have 8+ years of experience.

That rate is pathetic for the DC area.

I'm not entirely sure why my personal rate of compensation, which has nothing to do with you, offends you to the point of insult, but I assure you I was quite satisfied with my paycheck at the end of the week. Pathetic is far from it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with pp's. Seems reasonable to ask. I would actually go so far as to spend some time actually breaking it down and figuring out how much time it takes to do the things you are asking of her. For example if lo has preschool 15 minutes away and it's three hours long, she has 2.5 hours:
Clean kitchen; unload dishwasher, do dishes, wipe down counters, sweep, mop (45 min)
Laundry; wash, dry, fold, put away- 25 minutes/load x two loads (50 min)
Wipe down bathroom sinks and mirrors, change handtowels, wipe any visible spots - 10 min x 2 bathrooms (20 minutes)
Vacuum kitchen and playroom (15 min)
Make lunch (10 min)

If you are expecting her to grocery shop, I would expect shopping, cleaning out fridge, and putting new food away to take at least 2 hours. So she may be able to do that and clean the kitchen and that's it.

I did most of this, with the exception of the bathrooms and mopping, in the course of a regular day (twin charges and a family with a 6 month old and 3 yo, for those who need to know). Many nannies-though there are a bunch on here who will disagree-consider these duties normal as they relate to child care.

I would suggest you find a nanny who is ok with these types of "housekeeping" duties and then hire a cleaning service 2 times a month for bathrooms, mopping, deep cleaning. I'd venture you would save money in the long run and have a better pool of nanny candidates as well.

You did near full housekeeping on top of 4 kids? Please tell us your secret.

What was your hourly pay for all that?

Each family was 2 kids, I was paid in the $16-18 range. I am college educated and have 8+ years of experience.

That rate is pathetic for the DC area.

I'm not entirely sure why my personal rate of compensation, which has nothing to do with you, offends you to the point of insult, but I assure you I was quite satisfied with my paycheck at the end of the week. Pathetic is far from it.

Did your parents fund your college education? Can't quite imagine paying off a college loan on $16/hr. Live-in positions that provided acceptable room and board?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with pp's. Seems reasonable to ask. I would actually go so far as to spend some time actually breaking it down and figuring out how much time it takes to do the things you are asking of her. For example if lo has preschool 15 minutes away and it's three hours long, she has 2.5 hours:
Clean kitchen; unload dishwasher, do dishes, wipe down counters, sweep, mop (45 min)
Laundry; wash, dry, fold, put away- 25 minutes/load x two loads (50 min)
Wipe down bathroom sinks and mirrors, change handtowels, wipe any visible spots - 10 min x 2 bathrooms (20 minutes)
Vacuum kitchen and playroom (15 min)
Make lunch (10 min)

If you are expecting her to grocery shop, I would expect shopping, cleaning out fridge, and putting new food away to take at least 2 hours. So she may be able to do that and clean the kitchen and that's it.

I did most of this, with the exception of the bathrooms and mopping, in the course of a regular day (twin charges and a family with a 6 month old and 3 yo, for those who need to know). Many nannies-though there are a bunch on here who will disagree-consider these duties normal as they relate to child care.

I would suggest you find a nanny who is ok with these types of "housekeeping" duties and then hire a cleaning service 2 times a month for bathrooms, mopping, deep cleaning. I'd venture you would save money in the long run and have a better pool of nanny candidates as well.

You did near full housekeeping on top of 4 kids? Please tell us your secret.

What was your hourly pay for all that?

Each family was 2 kids, I was paid in the $16-18 range. I am college educated and have 8+ years of experience.

That rate is pathetic for the DC area.

I'm not entirely sure why my personal rate of compensation, which has nothing to do with you, offends you to the point of insult, but I assure you I was quite satisfied with my paycheck at the end of the week. Pathetic is far from it.

Did your parents fund your college education? Can't quite imagine paying off a college loan on $16/hr. Live-in positions that provided acceptable room and board?

Neither, but keep digging. I can see my personal finances are of great interest to you. Not really sure how they are relevant to this thread though...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with pp's. Seems reasonable to ask. I would actually go so far as to spend some time actually breaking it down and figuring out how much time it takes to do the things you are asking of her. For example if lo has preschool 15 minutes away and it's three hours long, she has 2.5 hours:
Clean kitchen; unload dishwasher, do dishes, wipe down counters, sweep, mop (45 min)
Laundry; wash, dry, fold, put away- 25 minutes/load x two loads (50 min)
Wipe down bathroom sinks and mirrors, change handtowels, wipe any visible spots - 10 min x 2 bathrooms (20 minutes)
Vacuum kitchen and playroom (15 min)
Make lunch (10 min)

If you are expecting her to grocery shop, I would expect shopping, cleaning out fridge, and putting new food away to take at least 2 hours. So she may be able to do that and clean the kitchen and that's it.

That's a cleaning lady, not a nanny.

No it isn't. I actually meant to make the point that six hours a week probably isn't enough time to do that much. If you want someone to do all of the family's laundry, for example, that is two loads for each adult, one for each kid, a load of sheets and a load of towels. That's 8 loads of laundry. At 25 minutes a load, that's over three hours. If you want her to clean and sweep the kitchen and spot clean the bathrooms on preschool days that's probably an hour each day. So, you can't also ask her to do the grocery shopping or vacuuming, and you aren't going to get out of hiring someone to deep clean or doing it yourself.

You can wash/dry/fold/put away a load of laundry in 25 minutes. Really now?

Yes. I have machines that do most of the work. It isn't like I am beating it against a rock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with pp's. Seems reasonable to ask. I would actually go so far as to spend some time actually breaking it down and figuring out how much time it takes to do the things you are asking of her. For example if lo has preschool 15 minutes away and it's three hours long, she has 2.5 hours:
Clean kitchen; unload dishwasher, do dishes, wipe down counters, sweep, mop (45 min)
Laundry; wash, dry, fold, put away- 25 minutes/load x two loads (50 min)
Wipe down bathroom sinks and mirrors, change handtowels, wipe any visible spots - 10 min x 2 bathrooms (20 minutes)
Vacuum kitchen and playroom (15 min)
Make lunch (10 min)

If you are expecting her to grocery shop, I would expect shopping, cleaning out fridge, and putting new food away to take at least 2 hours. So she may be able to do that and clean the kitchen and that's it.

I did most of this, with the exception of the bathrooms and mopping, in the course of a regular day (twin charges and a family with a 6 month old and 3 yo, for those who need to know). Many nannies-though there are a bunch on here who will disagree-consider these duties normal as they relate to child care.

I would suggest you find a nanny who is ok with these types of "housekeeping" duties and then hire a cleaning service 2 times a month for bathrooms, mopping, deep cleaning. I'd venture you would save money in the long run and have a better pool of nanny candidates as well.

You did near full housekeeping on top of 4 kids? Please tell us your secret.

What was your hourly pay for all that?

Each family was 2 kids, I was paid in the $16-18 range. I am college educated and have 8+ years of experience.

That rate is pathetic for the DC area.

I'm not entirely sure why my personal rate of compensation, which has nothing to do with you, offends you to the point of insult, but I assure you I was quite satisfied with my paycheck at the end of the week. Pathetic is far from it.

Did your parents fund your college education? Can't quite imagine paying off a college loan on $16/hr. Live-in positions that provided acceptable room and board?

Neither, but keep digging. I can see my personal finances are of great interest to you. Not really sure how they are relevant to this thread though...

Thanks, troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking to make the switch to having a full-time nanny caring for our 2 kids. Older is K, younger is 2. If we hire someone for 40-50 hours a week, and BOTH kids are out of the house at the same time for some amount of hours during the week (6-9 total depending on 2 yo preschool class times, and probably 2-3 hour every weekday once he turns 3), is it reasonable to ask the nanny to do housekeeping tasks during that time? I'm imagining whole family laundry, basic cleaning/vacuuming, dishes, etc.?

From what I've read, I know it's not general practice to have the nanny be doing cleaning and such when she is mainly focused on caring for the kids, but I'm thinking if she has time with no kids, then would it be OK? Both spouses' work schedules are such that we need someone to do the AM dropoff at school/preschool, so I don't think we're in a situation to look for someone who could just work when the kids are done after school. We'd also like to have her available for full-day backup care when school is closed, etc. -- and I would understand if the 'house' things didn't get handled as much on those kind of days.

Are you factoring in commute time? If the preschool is 15 minutes away, you just lost 30 minutes each day of the cleaning time.

Some nannies are happy to do some housekeeping when all kids are out of the house, some aren't. You need to specifically look for someone who is willing to do both.

If she has one or both of the kids home (illness, no school, etc), no housekeeping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with pp's. Seems reasonable to ask. I would actually go so far as to spend some time actually breaking it down and figuring out how much time it takes to do the things you are asking of her. For example if lo has preschool 15 minutes away and it's three hours long, she has 2.5 hours:
Clean kitchen; unload dishwasher, do dishes, wipe down counters, sweep, mop (45 min)
Laundry; wash, dry, fold, put away- 25 minutes/load x two loads (50 min)
Wipe down bathroom sinks and mirrors, change handtowels, wipe any visible spots - 10 min x 2 bathrooms (20 minutes)
Vacuum kitchen and playroom (15 min)
Make lunch (10 min)

If you are expecting her to grocery shop, I would expect shopping, cleaning out fridge, and putting new food away to take at least 2 hours. So she may be able to do that and clean the kitchen and that's it.

That's a cleaning lady, not a nanny.

No it isn't. I actually meant to make the point that six hours a week probably isn't enough time to do that much. If you want someone to do all of the family's laundry, for example, that is two loads for each adult, one for each kid, a load of sheets and a load of towels. That's 8 loads of laundry. At 25 minutes a load, that's over three hours. If you want her to clean and sweep the kitchen and spot clean the bathrooms on preschool days that's probably an hour each day. So, you can't also ask her to do the grocery shopping or vacuuming, and you aren't going to get out of hiring someone to deep clean or doing it yourself.

You can wash/dry/fold/put away a load of laundry in 25 minutes. Really now?

Yes. I have machines that do most of the work. It isn't like I am beating it against a rock.

Do you have turbo powered machines? Wash, dry, fold and put away a load in 25 minutes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with pp's. Seems reasonable to ask. I would actually go so far as to spend some time actually breaking it down and figuring out how much time it takes to do the things you are asking of her. For example if lo has preschool 15 minutes away and it's three hours long, she has 2.5 hours:
Clean kitchen; unload dishwasher, do dishes, wipe down counters, sweep, mop (45 min)
Laundry; wash, dry, fold, put away- 25 minutes/load x two loads (50 min)
Wipe down bathroom sinks and mirrors, change handtowels, wipe any visible spots - 10 min x 2 bathrooms (20 minutes)
Vacuum kitchen and playroom (15 min)
Make lunch (10 min)

If you are expecting her to grocery shop, I would expect shopping, cleaning out fridge, and putting new food away to take at least 2 hours. So she may be able to do that and clean the kitchen and that's it.

That's a cleaning lady, not a nanny.

No it isn't. I actually meant to make the point that six hours a week probably isn't enough time to do that much. If you want someone to do all of the family's laundry, for example, that is two loads for each adult, one for each kid, a load of sheets and a load of towels. That's 8 loads of laundry. At 25 minutes a load, that's over three hours. If you want her to clean and sweep the kitchen and spot clean the bathrooms on preschool days that's probably an hour each day. So, you can't also ask her to do the grocery shopping or vacuuming, and you aren't going to get out of hiring someone to deep clean or doing it yourself.

You can wash/dry/fold/put away a load of laundry in 25 minutes. Really now?

Yes. I have machines that do most of the work. It isn't like I am beating it against a rock.

Do you have turbo powered machines? Wash, dry, fold and put away a load in 25 minutes?

It's 25 minutes of active time. I assume that most people are able to do other things while their washing machine and dryer are running.

[Anonymous]

Ha, my previous nanny would have included "staring at clothes go round and round" as active work time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ha, my previous nanny would have included "staring at clothes go round and round" as active work time.

Ha, too bad you didn't have a nanny.

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that a combo person might feel like they have to finish up X housekeeping duty and let your kids play alone until it's done.

[Anonymous]

I'm doing laundry now and the washer and dry take nearly an hour each. Who's washer takes 25 minutes?