Nanny expectations re: food prep

[Anonymous]

I enjoy cooking from scratch, but I've had several MBs who felt that I shouldn't be able to do childcare and cook at the same time, simply because they couldn't. I get kids in the kitchen with me, they help choose what we make and they help cook. It's not hard to do. On the other hand, I interviewed with a family who felt that an appropriate breakfast was a yoohoo, poptart or toaster pastry, and a piece of white toast with honey or tablespoon of jam. I don't accept positions with families if I can't eat with the kids (live-in nanny, so they are providing my food anyway), so that I can model manners and eating a little of everything, and I don't accept positions in which the parent wants me to serve crap on a daily basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here. I love to cook and make all food for my charges from scratch (and we go grocery shopping weekly so that I can get anything I need to make their meals). I use nutritional guidelines from the AAP to plan their meals.

Sounds good to me.

I bet your employer is paying you more than OP is paying her person.

OP here. I suppose pay is certainly relevant to this discussion! We pay $22/hr for one child. Does that change anyone's answer? I feel better after reading some of these replies- and this isn't something we clearly discussed or put in the contract, so I think I'm not going to push it too much.

If you want to, you can offer a few dollars more in exchange for the extra work you want her to do. But put it clearly in your written agreement. You can even do a 30 trial with the extra pay, so you can see if it's worth it to you.

Are you serious? OP is already paying well over market rate for, what sounds like, a mediocre nanny. Why should she offer MORE?

OP, you aren't asking for anything out of the ordinary or over the top here. Many nannies do meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking from scratch as part of their daily activities and do not expect to be compensated extra for it.

It doesn't matter what OP is already paying. It's bad form to add new duties that weren't agreed upon up front without increasing compensation. Like it or not, overpaid or not, doing that is a recipe for resentful nanny. OPs realistic choices here are to let the issue go, specify her expectations regarding cooking and offering more pay for more work, or advertise for a new nanny at the same rate clearly laying out her expectations up front.

I don't disagree that for the rate OP is paying that she should be able to have a nanny that cooks. It's simply not realistic to expect her current nanny to happily increase her workload for no extra pay. Do you want someone angry and frustrated with you caring for your kids everyday?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here. I love to cook and make all food for my charges from scratch (and we go grocery shopping weekly so that I can get anything I need to make their meals). I use nutritional guidelines from the AAP to plan their meals.

Sounds good to me.

I bet your employer is paying you more than OP is paying her person.

OP here. I suppose pay is certainly relevant to this discussion! We pay $22/hr for one child. Does that change anyone's answer? I feel better after reading some of these replies- and this isn't something we clearly discussed or put in the contract, so I think I'm not going to push it too much.

If you want to, you can offer a few dollars more in exchange for the extra work you want her to do. But put it clearly in your written agreement. You can even do a 30 trial with the extra pay, so you can see if it's worth it to you.

Are you serious? OP is already paying well over market rate for, what sounds like, a mediocre nanny. Why should she offer MORE?

OP, you aren't asking for anything out of the ordinary or over the top here. Many nannies do meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking from scratch as part of their daily activities and do not expect to be compensated extra for it.

Of course you compensate for what you get in return. Don't be so ridiculous.

OP's pay rate is only average, good enough for an average nanny. My rate is much higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here. I love to cook and make all food for my charges from scratch (and we go grocery shopping weekly so that I can get anything I need to make their meals). I use nutritional guidelines from the AAP to plan their meals.

Sounds good to me.

I bet your employer is paying you more than OP is paying her person.

OP here. I suppose pay is certainly relevant to this discussion! We pay $22/hr for one child. Does that change anyone's answer? I feel better after reading some of these replies- and this isn't something we clearly discussed or put in the contract, so I think I'm not going to push it too much.

If you want to, you can offer a few dollars more in exchange for the extra work you want her to do. But put it clearly in your written agreement. You can even do a 30 trial with the extra pay, so you can see if it's worth it to you.

Are you serious? OP is already paying well over market rate for, what sounds like, a mediocre nanny. Why should she offer MORE?

OP, you aren't asking for anything out of the ordinary or over the top here. Many nannies do meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking from scratch as part of their daily activities and do not expect to be compensated extra for it.

Of course you compensate for what you get in return. Don't be so ridiculous.

OP's pay rate is only average, good enough for an average nanny. My rate is much higher.

Will you stop this? OP is paying $22/hour. That is a perfectly reasonable rate and by all means she can ask for cooking at that rate. Whether she can ask it of this nanny is a different story. But your constant insistence that any rate is simply average is ridiculous. The word average means the majority of jobs fall near that value. The majority of nanny jobs in this area do NOT fall near that rate, they fall well below it. Your rate has absolutely nothing to do with what defines an average rate, so stop harping about it. You're like a man who has to constantly convince everyone that he's got the biggest d**k in the room. NO ONE GIVES A CRAP.

[Anonymous]

People who want better than average, pay better than average.

$25-30 per hour is better than average.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does your nanny prepare meals for your child? If so, what does "prepare" entail exactly? Our nanny will give our (2-year-old) DS things she finds in the fridge/freezer- a typical breakfast will be Cheerios with milk and a banana. Typical lunch is yogurt, frozen chicken nuggets, and fruit. I don't really have an issue with any of the food she gives him (although she tends to give a lot of "grab and go" snacks- goldfish crackers, fruit that I've cut up and placed in the fridge, cheese sticks, etc.)- but it seems like she gives him kind of a random assortment of stuff throughout the day. I'm curious to see what other families do- should I be expecting my nanny to "cook" more (even eggs, grilled cheese, roasted veggies - simple stuff), or is it my responsibility to prepare all the foods and tell nanny exactly what to feed DS each day? I don't want to micromanage her, but I also feel like she could be putting in a little more effort in the kitchen...

It's your responsibility to talk to your nanny about how you'd like her to handle meals.

I mean, my own kid eats cereal and fruit for breakfast. Cut-up fruit and cheese sticks are common snacks at my house; snacks are not labor-intensive items. You make it sound like you're not happy with those foods, but for a lot of people, they would be perfectly normal.

Also, as a nanny, I would probably assume that any food you had in your kitchen was fair game for meals unless you told me otherwise. If you keep goldfish crackers and frozen chicken nuggets on hand, it's not obvious why your nanny should not serve them to your child if you haven't asked her not to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who want better than average, pay better than average.

$25-30 per hour is better than average.

$20-$25 is also "better than average. OP is already paying a very competitive rate. The issue is not that she isn't paying enough, it's that she didn't clarify cooking expectations up front, and no one takes kindly to having their workload increase without pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does your nanny prepare meals for your child? If so, what does "prepare" entail exactly? Our nanny will give our (2-year-old) DS things she finds in the fridge/freezer- a typical breakfast will be Cheerios with milk and a banana. Typical lunch is yogurt, frozen chicken nuggets, and fruit. I don't really have an issue with any of the food she gives him (although she tends to give a lot of "grab and go" snacks- goldfish crackers, fruit that I've cut up and placed in the fridge, cheese sticks, etc.)- but it seems like she gives him kind of a random assortment of stuff throughout the day. I'm curious to see what other families do- should I be expecting my nanny to "cook" more (even eggs, grilled cheese, roasted veggies - simple stuff), or is it my responsibility to prepare all the foods and tell nanny exactly what to feed DS each day? I don't want to micromanage her, but I also feel like she could be putting in a little more effort in the kitchen...

It's your responsibility to talk to your nanny about how you'd like her to handle meals.

I mean, my own kid eats cereal and fruit for breakfast. Cut-up fruit and cheese sticks are common snacks at my house; snacks are not labor-intensive items. You make it sound like you're not happy with those foods, but for a lot of people, they would be perfectly normal.

Also, as a nanny, I would probably assume that any food you had in your kitchen was fair game for meals unless you told me otherwise. If you keep goldfish crackers and frozen chicken nuggets on hand, it's not obvious why your nanny should not serve them to your child if you haven't asked her not to.

It sounds like OP has those things on hand for quick meals but expected her nanny would be cooking more substantive meals. For example, I'm a nanny that cooks and I make a batch of mini muffins for the freezer each week. We give these to the kids with their breakfast or snack and the muffins are low in sugar, but have a mix of fruits and veggies. I'm not sure what the issue is with fruit and cereal for breakfast though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who want better than average, pay better than average.

$25-30 per hour is better than average.

$20-$25 is also "better than average. OP is already paying a very competitive rate. The issue is not that she isn't paying enough, it's that she didn't clarify cooking expectations up front, and no one takes kindly to having their workload increase without pay.

Exactly.

For $22/hr the OP should be able to command a highly qualified, experienced nanny for whom meal prep is a non-issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who want better than average, pay better than average.

$25-30 per hour is better than average.

$20-$25 is also "better than average. OP is already paying a very competitive rate. The issue is not that she isn't paying enough, it's that she didn't clarify cooking expectations up front, and no one takes kindly to having their workload increase without pay.

Exactly.

For $22/hr the OP should be able to command a highly qualified, experienced nanny for whom meal prep is a non-issue.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who want better than average, pay better than average.

$25-30 per hour is better than average.

$20-$25 is also "better than average. OP is already paying a very competitive rate. The issue is not that she isn't paying enough, it's that she didn't clarify cooking expectations up front, and no one takes kindly to having their workload increase without pay.

Exactly.

For $22/hr the OP should be able to command a highly qualified, experienced nanny for whom meal prep is a non-issue.

I do meal prep, but earn $28/hr.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here. I love to cook and make all food for my charges from scratch (and we go grocery shopping weekly so that I can get anything I need to make their meals). I use nutritional guidelines from the AAP to plan their meals.

Sounds good to me.

I bet your employer is paying you more than OP is paying her person.

OP here. I suppose pay is certainly relevant to this discussion! We pay $22/hr for one child. Does that change anyone's answer? I feel better after reading some of these replies- and this isn't something we clearly discussed or put in the contract, so I think I'm not going to push it too much.

You can discuss it without pushing it. Nanny is not a mind reader - she may be doing precisely what she thinks you want her to do. You could start off by saying "I am concerned about the child's daily nutrition. I try to keep a variety of nutritional foods such as fruits, cheese, and veggies around and I am good with keeping it simple. What are your thoughts about preparing ... ?" Then listen. If she burns water she is not going to volunteer to cook. If she enjoys cooking, or feels she might engage your DC with helping with meal prep she may welcome the opening. Grilled cheese, french toast, pancakes, eggs are all easy to make. If she seems willing ask if there are some items you might be able to pick up at the market that she would enjoy preparing?

[Anonymous]

Our nanny loves to cook and also kids meals were part of her contract. I do the baby puréed tho and she does the toddler meals- either fresh or we batch cook and freeze. We had to get organized when the new baby came and she did well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here. I love to cook and make all food for my charges from scratch (and we go grocery shopping weekly so that I can get anything I need to make their meals). I use nutritional guidelines from the AAP to plan their meals.

Sounds good to me.

I bet your employer is paying you more than OP is paying her person.

OP here. I suppose pay is certainly relevant to this discussion! We pay $22/hr for one child. Does that change anyone's answer? I feel better after reading some of these replies- and this isn't something we clearly discussed or put in the contract, so I think I'm not going to push it too much.

You have one lazy, overpaid nanny OP.

Talk to your friends with nannies to get enlightened. Dcum has too much overexaggerated BS.
Our nanny was paid $15-19/hour over our five years and always made healthy food for our children.
Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here. I love to cook and make all food for my charges from scratch (and we go grocery shopping weekly so that I can get anything I need to make their meals). I use nutritional guidelines from the AAP to plan their meals.

Sounds good to me.

I bet your employer is paying you more than OP is paying her person.

OP here. I suppose pay is certainly relevant to this discussion! We pay $22/hr for one child. Does that change anyone's answer? I feel better after reading some of these replies- and this isn't something we clearly discussed or put in the contract, so I think I'm not going to push it too much.

You have one lazy, overpaid nanny OP.

Talk to your friends with nannies to get enlightened. Dcum has too much overexaggerated BS.
Our nanny was paid $15-19/hour over our five years and always made healthy food for our children.
Bethesda.

Does she have any cheap friends?