I feel overwhelmed as a nanny at times

[Anonymous]

OP here. I speak with my employers every morning and every evening. In the mornings, my charge is still asleep so we can talk freely. In the evenings, I just fill which ever parent comes home first on the events of the day.

Thanks so much for the good suggestions about Nanny groups. Yes, anyone can improve. I also like the idea about offering water ever fifteen minutes or so. I always have my charge's water with me but do forget to offer it to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should check in with the parents about your goals. They may say to just read a half hour in the morning and a half hour in the afternoon and give her water to sip during reading time but otherwise don't push water. Or they may say actually, we don't think it's developmentally appropriate at this age to push reading so just play with her and only read if she initiates it.

I prefer that our nanny check in with us about once a month regarding what they see as strengths and deficits, and that way we're all on the same page.

Are you initiating that cknversation? Ime, parents aren't that interested in the day-to-day things like whether the nanny wants to encourage a few more ounces of water each day or increase reading time by 5-15 minutes. And I have yet to have a single employer who wanted a long conversation (10+ minutes) at least once per month, unless there were big issues and we were all brainstorming before bringing ideas to the table.

Wow. I have my nanny take DD to meet me at the office once a week and the three of us go to lunch together. We spend at solid half hour talking once a week.

But it sounds like your kid is preverbal. Those days are numbered and by age 2, your kid A) understands what you say so you can’t have a frank discussion about a lot of things and B) wants your undivided attention. Would you still be setting aside a half an hour a week to chat with the nanny if it meant you had to give up time with your kid?

Nanny-parent meetings are just as important as teacher-parent meetings. Would you imagine a responsible teacher would skip meeting with the parent? Regular communication is necessary.

Well, my charges only have 2-3 scheduled parent-teacher conferences per year. When school was cancelled for this last one, parents were notified that it would not be rescheduled, so...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should check in with the parents about your goals. They may say to just read a half hour in the morning and a half hour in the afternoon and give her water to sip during reading time but otherwise don't push water. Or they may say actually, we don't think it's developmentally appropriate at this age to push reading so just play with her and only read if she initiates it.

I prefer that our nanny check in with us about once a month regarding what they see as strengths and deficits, and that way we're all on the same page.

Are you initiating that cknversation? Ime, parents aren't that interested in the day-to-day things like whether the nanny wants to encourage a few more ounces of water each day or increase reading time by 5-15 minutes. And I have yet to have a single employer who wanted a long conversation (10+ minutes) at least once per month, unless there were big issues and we were all brainstorming before bringing ideas to the table.

Wow. I have my nanny take DD to meet me at the office once a week and the three of us go to lunch together. We spend at solid half hour talking once a week.

But it sounds like your kid is preverbal. Those days are numbered and by age 2, your kid A) understands what you say so you can’t have a frank discussion about a lot of things and B) wants your undivided attention. Would you still be setting aside a half an hour a week to chat with the nanny if it meant you had to give up time with your kid?

Nanny-parent meetings are just as important as teacher-parent meetings. Would you imagine a responsible teacher would skip meeting with the parent? Regular communication is necessary.

I am a nanny, not a parent, but expecting a weekly half-hour discussion is fine for you but it is not standard to any form of childcare. Like most other forms of childcare, most of my communication about the children in my care is in writing, not verbal. And most parents don’t want to get in the weeds on every details. They teust my judgement and they get that we will differ sometimes in approach but they intwrviewed me up front to determine that we have the same long-term goals and I update them on progress via email. We have a sit-down maybe two-3 times per year.

[Anonymous]

I think that OP and the nannies who agree with her sound like truly great nannies.