What do you do when kids go to pre school part time?

[Anonymous]

Do you renegotiate nanny salary when kids start pre school part time? I have 3 kids: 6, 4 and now 1 y.o. Starting September, both older kids will be in school (fairfax county public schools) and I'm signing the toddler for 4 hrs x 2 days a week preschool. My husband thinks that we should keep the nanny, instead of combination of after school care and potential day care (havent found a daycare yet that can pick up from the preschool). However, with kids growing up, keeping a nanny seems like a luxury. It seems there are situations that people decrease nanny's salaries when they decrease number of kids to watch, is that right? I can see from nannies perspective that she spends so much time with us, so who cares that there are fewer kids? I currently pay her by week, not "per child". Has anyone done that?

[Anonymous]

I can't imagine most nannies would want to stick around for a reduced income. You may need to find a new nanny.

[Anonymous]

If you want to keep your current nanny I wouldn't suggest cutting her income; however, you could ask if your nanny could possibly pick up an extra household chore or two (maybe grocery shopping) since she'll have less hours of child care. Some nannies are okay with changing their role to more of a nanny/household manager as kids grow- others are not and will move on to a family that needs a full-time nanny. If your nanny does not want her role to include more household chores then you will have to decide whether you keep her on at her current rate with the new hours or if you need a nanny who better fitd a household schedule with school age children.

[Anonymous]

If your children are doing ok with the nanny, keep her, as stability is valuble. Ask her what her thoughts are.

[Anonymous]

We pay our nanny while my daughter is in preschool. I have no idea what she does during the extra time, but I do know that she would have a hard time finding another job to fill for those 3 hrs. Also, if school is closed for teacher work day or a holiday then we need her to be available for the full day. Yes, it is more expensive. But, it is also security that when we need her available during those 3 hrs she is free to work and not asking for more money.

[Anonymous]

Eventually, your needs will be very different, but as your youngest is just 1, you aren't quite there yet. As PP's have pointed out, there will be sick days/closures/half-days/days your kid needs to be picked up early/etc. when you will need your nanny to be available. If having her "free" for an additional 6 hours (because really with the time of drop off/pick up and travel, this is was it would really work out to be) during the week would really bother you, perhaps add a few child-related errands/chores or some meal prep duties.

Have a conversation together about the best way to deal with this VERY MINOR change in her duties, but do not bring up a decrease in pay unless you are prepared to be without childcare.

[Anonymous]

Your kid is really not going to be in school as much as you think. In addition to summer and 3 weeks of breaks (2 winter, 1 spring), there will also be holidays, snow days and sick days, for all three kids. If you really want to cut costs, then pull the younger two out of school and put them in daycare all day (or choose a school with substantial before/aftercare) and the oldest can be in before/aftercare at ES. Then kiss all your vacation, sick and personal days goodbye because you will be spending them on emergency childcare. Also, you'd better get a jump on the summer camp scramble! It'll be rough with a one-year-old, and you're already late!

Look, having a nanny AND preschool is the most expensive of all childcare options, but you chose that, not your nanny. If my employers told me that they wanted me to work the same number of hours (or wanted me to work a slit schedule with no possibility of pickup work) but were cutting my pay, I would be looking for a new job.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PPs. With the holidays/teacher workdays/breaks/snow days I can't imagine what I would have done without the nanny. When you add to that the summer break, it's a no brainer for me. It is a luxury but well worth it.

Right now, my oldest is in K and middle child is in preschool two days a week. My nanny uses those days when she "only" has my youngest (18 mos) to take her on fun outings. So DC #3 gets some one-on-one time to do activities for her age (which is not something she gets a lot of, since she's typically dragged along to what her sisters want to do) and I get the benefit of not batting an eye when school is cancelled for the 3rd day in a row.

[Anonymous]

We've also debated what to do now that 2 of our 3 young ones is going to be in preschool for 6 out of the 10 daytime work hours. We decided not to cut our Nanny's pay - it just didn't seem right. She's very productive (ie she doesn't take naps when the kids are at school) so we'll see how it goes. Our #3 is a newborn, we didn't increase Nanny's pay because the older two are now at school. I think it balances out, right?