No more milennials
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Anonymous
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Yesterday our afterschool sitter quit with no notice. Via text. She has been incredibly unreliable for the past couple of months--calling in sick, scheduling job interviews (she's a school counselor!), but had promised us she could stick it out until mid May, when we have a summer sitter lined up. Then we get the text that she's got some "health issues" she needs to focus on and needs to do what's right for her.
This is our second college-educated 20-something nanny/sitter who has quit abruptly BY TEXT. We pay well, guarantee hours, pay for sick leave, you name it. I understand this may not be their chosen life's work, but it's a job, and a commitment they made, and it's still not o.k. to just bail when they feel like it. I have had plenty of wage slave jobs in my life, including baby sitting, working retail, hell, even working in a barn shoveling manure, for heaven's sake, and NEVER in my life have I quit with no notice the day I was due to show up for work. I don't feel like it's fair to ask professional nannies to do afterschool work, because they need the hours of a fulltime job. What on earth do people do to find someone reliable for the after school hours?? |
Anonymous
| So, to be clear. You object to hiring a professional nanny, but are shocked that you aren't getting professionalism from those you do hire? |
Anonymous
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Some of us utilize the aftercare services offered by the school or privately-run ones provided by local arts centers & dance studios. I've done this.
Some of us use au pairs. I currently do this. Some people cycle through college students on a semester basis. I haven't utilized this option yet, because I remember what it was like during finals week - I would not have been able to keep a 15-20 hr/wk work commitment during midterms and finals and I was one of the more organized people I knew during college. My peers would have been calling out for every paper and test through out the term. |
Anonymous
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Hard truth?
A) you don't pay as well as you think B) you're hard to work for C) your kids are difficult to watch One or all might be true. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
| The kids prefer texting above all other modes of communication. It's hard for them to even write a complete word instead of abbreviating everything. You just have to keep hiring and hope you get a good one. |
Anonymous
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I have to agree w/you on all counts that the younger nanny pool is not going to have the same work ethic that the older ones will have.
While it may sound prejudiced + unfair of me to say this, in my own personal experience this has always been the case. The younger generation does not have enough life experience under their belt to understand how leaving you high and dry w/out childcare can throw everything in your life off. Most of them have never personally experienced true hardship and they have no idea how challenging it really is to raise a family while working. Older nannies tend to be more responsible, have more empathy for your situation and would also be more likely to relate to your challenges on a more personal level. I have and always maintain that an older nanny will be more responsible, mature, considerate and take her job more seriously vs. a younger one. Plus, younger nannies have an advantage since many of them can still rely on their parents if they need financial assistance. P.S. One note: Are you sure the nannies that are quitting w/out any notice are doing so of their own accord? Because even though you state you pay well, etc., any nanny regardless of her age may quit suddenly if the job is not a good one. I.e., feeling taken advantage of, being talked to w/no respect, etc. |
Anonymous
D) most nannies are just lazy |
Anonymous
| I have the same impression of millennials that I've hired at work. Lazy, yet oddly entitled, with no follow-through or ability to persevere through commitments. |
Anonymous
Stop. Really. Just stop. |
Anonymous
Just like the parents who don't exactly enjoy babysitting either. |
Anonymous
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OP here, and I can guarantee we do pay well. I see the salaries posted on here, and we are on the upper end.
Some more context on my anti millennial stance: nanny #1: applied to work for us full time, quit after three weeks citing emotional stress. Said we were terrific employers, and wept in my kitchen when she came to pick up her last paycheck about how much she loved our kids, but that she just couldn't hack working full time. Gets financial support from her mother while she studies part time to get a teaching degree. After school sitter, works 18 hours per week for us and another family. Doesn't "need" the money, but likes the extra cash. Works for public schools, has a degree, committed for the school year, and then bailed. Lives at home with her parents. I'm not at all opposed to hiring professional nannies, just respect that they are busy with full time jobs and aren't usually available for after school work, which leaves only the flakey 20 somethings, it seems. |
Anonymous
| Hire an older nanny. This is a realization that all of my friends have slowly come to - the older nannies are generally the best. Of course there are exceptions. |
Anonymous
+1 And they aren't addicted to their phones. |
Anonymous
| Sounds like something is wrong with your family? Do you micromanage? Are your children difficult? I had an employer who thought she was amazing to work for. I liked her as an overall person but she was a shitty boss. She went through 5 nannies in one year. She was condescending and looked down on nannies. |