Adjusting hours - wwyd?

[Anonymous]

OP here.

Thanks everyone.

I texted MB yesterday and asked when the camp weeks were and if she could write the days in the calendar.
She didn't respond and when she came home, it seemed like she still didn't know, other than the one week camp next week for one child.
There are no camps this week, so when she changed my schedule to 2-6, she actually meant days/weeks when both kids are home, with no camps.
She said when there are camps, she would still need me in the morning to drive them, although next week there are 2 other kids in the neighborhood and the kids could share rides, so she is not sure if we are back to my regular hours or 2-6.

I've been with them for two summers and this has never happened.
I didn't have that huge chunk of time off, it was always a week here, 10 days there, etc. Now their dad has them for a long period of time in July and my MB is on vacation when they come back, so it makes it over 4 weeks of time off for me.
I remember MB told me at the interview that this is one of the perks for her nanny - a lot of time off during the summer.

With all that in mind, I told her yesterday that I didn't mind 2-6 schedule on some summer weeks. I also said that it's stressful when she texts me important things like that after I go to sleep and I don't see the texts until the morning.
She was a little embarrassed and said she thought I was probably in bed, but texted me anyway.

OK, now I'm off to plan my vacation. I knew I was going to have a lot of time off, but I didn't know when, until last week.
I want to see the Mammoth cave in Kentucky and then a road trip to New England. One of the things on my bucket list is to visit all the states. After this summer, I should have 36 of them checked off

Have a great summer everyone!!

[Anonymous]

Op, I've read all your replies and I can't for the life of me understand why you prefer your original schedule.

Your a dog walker on the side so it's not like you have something big going on between 9-4 that you need to be available for. Switching to 2-6 means, not getting up early, not commuting twice as much, and let's you find a better job in the morning/afternoon than dog walking if you were so inclined.

Why do you want to work a 4 hour "split shift"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, I've read all your replies and I can't for the life of me understand why you prefer your original schedule.

Your a dog walker on the side so it's not like you have something big going on between 9-4 that you need to be available for. Switching to 2-6 means, not getting up early, not commuting twice as much, and let's you find a better job in the morning/afternoon than dog walking if you were so inclined.

Why do you want to work a 4 hour "split shift"?

OP here.
I wish 2-6 was something consistent, even if only for the summer.
In reality, my 2-6 schedule is only this week, another week either at the beginning of July or sometime in August and a few random days when there are camps and I'm not needed to drive them/one of them in the morning. And I don't know what those days are until the last minute.
So far I know when my days off are (that month off) and this week's schedule. All the other days during the summer still have a question mark. For example, next week one of the kids has some sports camp. He will get rides in the morning some of the days of that week, but I don't know what they are, because the schedule is not coordinated yet with the other parents. So some days I will be needed 2-6 and some days I might have a split shift. And I will probably find out details the night before, most likely after I go to sleep and read the text in the morning.
That's why I thought that sticking with original split shift wouldn't be such a headache, because it's consistent. And if I needed to come at 2 instead of 4, I would have 2 extra hours.

I can't find another job, because my schedule is not consistent. And as I mentioned before, my MB is really disorganized and very last minute. One of the kids still isn't signed up for camp, so I'm not sure which week my schedule will change from split to 2-6.

If my scheduled changed and stayed the same, I would love it and I would happily agree without a second thought.
But it is what it is. She needs this flexibility now, so I will help her out. And I will enjoy my month off.

And as far as my dog walking job, I want to keep it (and maybe find another one or two).
My job now consists of driving the kids to martial arts (4 times a week), supervising homework and cooking dinner, so when I walk the dogs, I'm basically paid for exercising.
I don't always have motivation to go for a walk by myself and I really enjoy walking with dogs. I go for a mile walk every day with 2 gorgeous golden retrievers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I've read all your replies and I can't for the life of me understand why you prefer your original schedule.

Your a dog walker on the side so it's not like you have something big going on between 9-4 that you need to be available for. Switching to 2-6 means, not getting up early, not commuting twice as much, and let's you find a better job in the morning/afternoon than dog walking if you were so inclined.

Why do you want to work a 4 hour "split shift"?

OP here.
I wish 2-6 was something consistent, even if only for the summer.
In reality, my 2-6 schedule is only this week, another week either at the beginning of July or sometime in August and a few random days when there are camps and I'm not needed to drive them/one of them in the morning. And I don't know what those days are until the last minute.
So far I know when my days off are (that month off) and this week's schedule. All the other days during the summer still have a question mark. For example, next week one of the kids has some sports camp. He will get rides in the morning some of the days of that week, but I don't know what they are, because the schedule is not coordinated yet with the other parents. So some days I will be needed 2-6 and some days I might have a split shift. And I will probably find out details the night before, most likely after I go to sleep and read the text in the morning.
That's why I thought that sticking with original split shift wouldn't be such a headache, because it's consistent. And if I needed to come at 2 instead of 4, I would have 2 extra hours.

I can't find another job, because my schedule is not consistent. And as I mentioned before, my MB is really disorganized and very last minute. One of the kids still isn't signed up for camp, so I'm not sure which week my schedule will change from split to 2-6.

If my scheduled changed and stayed the same, I would love it and I would happily agree without a second thought.
But it is what it is. She needs this flexibility now, so I will help her out. And I will enjoy my month off.

And as far as my dog walking job, I want to keep it (and maybe find another one or two).
My job now consists of driving the kids to martial arts (4 times a week), supervising homework and cooking dinner, so when I walk the dogs, I'm basically paid for exercising.
I don't always have motivation to go for a walk by myself and I really enjoy walking with dogs. I go for a mile walk every day with 2 gorgeous golden retrievers.

It sounds like you "work" most of the day, but how many hours do you actually get paid for? Do you commute more than you work? What do you earn in a week?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that if you have 3 years of history with this family, of them being fair and straightforward and generous (a month of paid leave during the summer!), and that the MB asked to adjust your schedule during the no camp weeks, that this seems fine.

It reads like you are looking for suspicious intent, when you only have a great track record thus far in an extended tenure.

See this out and then see if she starts wanting to change things regularly. I think it's at least a solid bet that she won't.

OP here.
I hope you're right.

There was one situation I just remembered that happened maybe 2 years ago - not quite the same, but this is what happened.
One of the children was sick and I stayed home with her all day.
MB came home at 4. Remember my regular hours are 7-9 and then 4-6. So if I stay home with a child all day, the hours between 9 and 4 count as extras.
When she was paying me at the end of the week, she seemed a little confused and tried to pay me for 5 extra hours instead of 7, claiming she came home 2 hours early.
I explained to her that those were my guaranteed hours and anything outside of them was extra and I had to be paid for them. She agreed and I got paid.

That would piss me off.
- A MB

[Anonymous]

Agree with what other posters have said. If you want to stick with this family (though it doesn't sound like a great situation to me), tell MB you are planning to take on several more clients for your dog-walking business, so you need more consistency with your schedule going forward. If the MB does not change after your discussion, then either quit or just accept that's how it's going to be.