Hazard pay for holiday travel?
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Anonymous
| DH and I are thinkig about a quick getaway somewhere hot this Thanksgiving or Christmas, but would want to bring nanny with us, and she seemed open. It would be 4 days or so, she would help with flying and watch one-year-old at the resort a few hours during the day and then evenings. We would either have her in the room with baby or get a seperate room for her. How much should we offer? Does it change if she is missing a holiday with family (she is single, so not kids, but extended family)? |
Anonymous
| You should be able to work out some type of flat fee for the whole trip. I personally would not do it for less than $200 a day, and the rate would definitely go up if you expect overnight care as well. It should go without saying that her flight, accommodations and food/beverages should be included as well. And, of course, you get her her own room. |
Anonymous
| Yes, the nanny needs her own room for sure, or double her daily rate. |
Anonymous
| If she is sharing a room w.your baby then yes, pay extra. It's also the Holidays so if she's missing an actual holiday with family and friends then i'm assuming she's expecting more cha-ching. Maybe a little extra in the Holiday bonus? |
Anonymous
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Who are you people who cannot go on vacation during major holidays with your own family - especially with just ONE kid?!? This blows my mind.
- MB |
Anonymous
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Can someone explain to me why the set-up for these is always nanny or au pair sharing the room with the kids and the parents are the ones that get their own room? I can't imagine that (and I'm an MB). I just really don't get why if you had two rooms, the nanny would be the one with the kids. That is unless you're paying her for overnights too?
And yes, I would imagine it would be a higher rate based on the fact that she'd be missing Christmas with her family, simply because you'd have to make that loss worth her while. And finally, when you take someone on a trip to work, you pay for their airfare, food for the week, any activities done together. She can pay for souvenirs or any activities she chooses to do with her free time. |
Anonymous
Sorry you can't afford to enjoy your vacation and have some couple time. I pay my nanny to make my life easier and I probably could drag my kids along and get up at dawn and spend all days keeping my (twin) toddlers happy and safe at the beach then spend the evening stuck in the hotel after a crazy bedtime routine. Or I could just bring my nanny so that I get a break in the morning to get ready at my own pace, have an extra set of hands at bedtime and DH and I can enjoy a dinner out while the kids are safe at the hotel--now that's a vacation! |
Anonymous
Why not just leave your kids home then, then someone else can spend all day keeping them safe and happy. Better yet, why have them in the first place?? Oh that's right, so you can parade your "perfect" family around for a few hours and them dump them off again when it becomes inconvenient...sad. |
Anonymous
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"Sorry you can't afford to enjoy your vacation and have some couple time. I pay my nanny to make my life easier and I probably could drag my kids along and get up at dawn and spend all days keeping my (twin) toddlers happy and safe at the beach then spend the evening stuck in the hotel after a crazy bedtime routine. Or I could just bring my nanny so that I get a break in the morning to get ready at my own pace, have an extra set of hands at bedtime and DH and I can enjoy a dinner out while the kids are safe at the hotel--now that's a vacation! "
I see that as totally different from a family with ONE kid going on vacation over XMAS. Still don't really understand taking nanny on family beach trip, but we do the beach w/ my folks so I can fathom how it's nice to have extra hands, particularly when you have multiple kids. Seems really different from the situation OP described though. |
Anonymous
I am the OP. We are agnostic, so we are choosing Thanksgiving or Christmas because we have time off. And as for having only ONE kid, well, my ONE toddler stills requires supervision every waking moment, which means that DH and I would have to take turns watching the baby the entire day and then try to sneak in a few hours of couple time during naps/after bedtime, without leaving the room. Or we could have nanny get up with baby while we get everything packed for the beach and we can spend the morning enjoying the beach as a family, and nanny can put DC down for a nap and wait around the hotel while we go swimming, snorkeling, whatever, then we can meet up for dinner together, put the baby to bed and DH and I can go out to dinner while nanny hangs at the hotel in case the baby wakes. Why not just leave my baby at home? Because I look forward to spending the entire morning and most of the afternoon/evening with my whole family, even if I want to be able to leave the hotel during nap/after bed. |
Anonymous
There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. OP, don't let other jealous people try to make you feel bad. The PPs condemning you are either parents who can't afford nannies or they don't have children at all. Being a parent is exhausting and no one knows just how hard it is until they are parents themselves. I wouldn't trade my children or the time I spent with them for anything is this world but if I have a few days to relax and catch up on sleep I'd be a MUCH better parent and the time I spend with them would be higher quality. I say this as a part-time working mother who chooses to work only 2 days a week so I can be the primary caregiver for my children (although I have total respect for full-time working mothers as well as SAHM - it's a personal choice) and I love spending time with them. However, if I could afford to take a nanny on vacation with me I would do it in a second. We recently took the children to the beach for 3 days, they had a blast and so by extension we did too - it's worth every exhausting minute to know they are having fun - but I came home SO exhausted. Yes, I know, I chose to have children and I would literally sacrifice anything for them but if it makes me a better parent by spending a couple of hours away from them while they are sleeping so I can work on my marriage to their father therefore making us less likely to have marital problems that will affect the children later, then what's wrong with that? Or if the nanny gets the children up and dressed in the morning so I can get a little more sleep so I'll have more energy for them later, is there something wrong with that? OP wasn't talking about leaving her child with the nanny the entire vacation, she is still planning to spend plenty of qualilty time with DC and there is nothing wrong with bringing some help to make the vacation more enjoyable for everyone. |
nannydebsays
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OP, will nanny have time to herself to do what she wants after she gets baby ready in the AM and after baby's PM nap? If so, that sounds fairly reasonable. Also, will nanny have her own room? If so, that also sounds reasonable with your plans. She can return to her room after you and DH return from dinner and you will be with your baby while sleeping. If nanny shares a room with baby, and if you expect her to come and help you at the beach or wherever, you will be expecting her to work 24 hours days. That's...a lot of overtime, isn't it? Many nannies I know who have agreed to that sort of 24/7 work during their employers vacation got really burned out really fast, as in within 3 days. And they didn't feel very well compensated, and they never ever agreed to go on a NF trip again, figuring they would again be expected to work 24/7. I'd suggest you find a way for nanny to have her own room, even if that means you/DH/baby share a suite and nanny has a separate room in the hotel, or that you rent a 3 bedroom3 bath condo or whatever. I would also suggest that you plan out the schedule with nanny in advance, showing her when she will be working and hen she'll be off on her own. You will also want to discuss additional compensation with her, because what she feels is fair for this may not be anywhere near what you think is OK. As an example, if I were your nanny, and I was doing 24/7 with baby sleeping in my space, I would expect my regular paycheck for every day worked (let's say $180 for a 10 hour day($15/hr plus ot), plus OT (at $22.50/hour for 6 hours) for every hour after that. I would be willing to accept a rate of $100 for 8 hours out of 24 that would be "sleeping hours" if and only if your baby actually slept through those 8 hours without waking me. That means, without any downtime for me where I would be free to leave the hotel alone, I would be expecting $415 per 24 hour period minimum, including travel time. Just food for thought. Good Luck! |
Anonymous
| Nanny Deb is nit your typical nanny, OP. |
Anonymous
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Thanks for the thoughtful response, Nanny Deb. i will discuss with my nanny what sheik would consider a reasonable overnight great for sharing a room with the baby and that will help me decide whether it is worth it to buy adjoining room two hours for the baby or would be cheaper to just put baby in the same room as nanny and pay her overnight. Our baby does very reliably sleep through the night even on trips.
As for the daytime, there would definitely be some times that I can plan in advance for her to have off. That is the conversation we will need to have. Thanks everyone who gave helpful and thoughtful responses! |