Can you help me figure out what we need? And how to find it?

[Anonymous]

I am due in January and my husband is only able to take about a week of maternity leave, so I am looking for someone to help me around the house. I would be home the whole time and never leave the person home by themselves with the baby. Can you all help me figure out what I need - mother's helper, part-time nanny? And where to find them - care.com, local moms list serve? When should we start looking? Do you think we will find someone for those hours in that price range?

I think this is what we are generally looking for:
- Requested hours: Flexible, but ~10/week. Typically 3pm-5pm on weekdays.
- Responsibilities: Not exactly sure (we don't have the baby yet!) but would likely be centered on caring for a newborn infant, helping around the house, and generally just giving me a breather. Likely responsibilities will include diaper changing, dog walking, laundry, light cleaning/picking up around the house, help with starting dinner, and running small errands to nearby grocery stores/CVS (within walking distance).
- Pay is negotiable and depends on age and experience, but thinking in the $15-$20/hour range.
- Commitment: The baby is due in late January. We would like someone to start probably in mid February, or generally 2 weeks after she is born, and work for at least two months.

Is this reasonable?

[Anonymous]

Here's my thought. Your job doesn't fit neatly into any predeterminted category, but that doesn't mean it isn't a great fit for someone.

If you can take diapers off the general list, however, and are open to being flexible to when the person works, I think you could find a great person by advertising for a housekeeper.

We actually made this transition after our daughter went to pre-k. We were in a nanny mindset, so we created a job with legal pay, benefits, noncancellation guarentee, PTO, etc. We got tons of applicants. It took a while to find someone open to expanding what a housekeeper generally did, but, we found a great person and she's been with us for two years.

She works 15 hours/wk, divided over 3 days. She can set her own schedule and 80% of her time she accomplishes "whatever needs to be done" at her own pace and schedule. This might include housework, laundry, organzing, etc. About 20% of the time, I might ask for specific tasks, or to run an errand, or even to watch my kid while I run out. (I work shiftwork, so I'm often there during the day)

As far as pay, we offered $18/hr (that's what we paid our nanny) Our housekeeper negotiated $20/hr with no PTO (we guarentee not to cancel, but she can take unpaid time off as she wishes)

I used care.com to find her.