Being wasteful

[Anonymous]

I feel that my nanny is being wasteful. Should I say something?

[Anonymous]

Depends on what she's wasting. Current nanny uses a ton of paper towels. No idea how she goes through so many. But so not worth bringing up because she's a fantastic nanny and in the grand scheme of Things, this waste is not a big deal at all.

If she were wasting food depending on how it was being wasted I'd talk to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel that my nanny is being wasteful. Should I say something?

Depends. Learn to pick your battles. If this is really important to you then yes, say something kindly and gently - remembering how you like to be corrected at your job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel that my nanny is being wasteful. Should I say something?

Depends. Learn to pick your battles. If this is really important to you then yes, say something kindly and gently - remembering how you like to be corrected at your job.

+1 True with any employee in any job anywhere in the world - as a boss, you have to ask yourself, "Is this a hill I am willing to die on?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on what she's wasting. Current nanny uses a ton of paper towels. No idea how she goes through so many. But so not worth bringing up because she's a fantastic nanny and in the grand scheme of Things, this waste is not a big deal at all.

If she were wasting food depending on how it was being wasted I'd talk to her.

She probably washes her hands. A lot. I know I go through a lot of paper towels at my nanny job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on what she's wasting. Current nanny uses a ton of paper towels. No idea how she goes through so many. But so not worth bringing up because she's a fantastic nanny and in the grand scheme of Things, this waste is not a big deal at all.

If she were wasting food depending on how it was being wasted I'd talk to her.

She probably washes her hands. A lot. I know I go through a lot of paper towels at my nanny job.

More environmentally friendly to use a dishcloth to dry clean hands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on what she's wasting. Current nanny uses a ton of paper towels. No idea how she goes through so many. But so not worth bringing up because she's a fantastic nanny and in the grand scheme of Things, this waste is not a big deal at all.

If she were wasting food depending on how it was being wasted I'd talk to her.

Yikes! I hope you are not my boss!

I use a lot of paper towels during the day, I use them to wipe my face after eating, to clean up minor spills on the floor + counters plus I use them to clean my charge's face after meals/snacks.

I guess I should ask his parents for a baby washcloth instead.

[Anonymous]

Our nanny went out and bought a stack of cotton washcloths that she uses for cleaning the babies after meals, etc...

It had never occurred to me to do that but it was a brilliant idea. They come in so handy for the little spills, are washable, and inexpensive so if you replace them once a year it's no big deal.

[Anonymous]

In my last job, most of the paper towels went to cleaning the filthy kitchen counters that greeted me every morning.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if nannies wasting multiple paper towels do the same in their own homes. I try to be conserving at home and work too, using one paper towel to dry my hands at work. I don't act different if someone else is paying for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if nannies wasting multiple paper towels do the same in their own homes. I try to be conserving at home and work too, using one paper towel to dry my hands at work. I don't act different if someone else is paying for it.

Funny how my employer might also be wondering if I eat organic food when I'm paying for it. Of course I do. Why would I not? My well-being matters.

If you think the nanny's cheating you, you had best get yourself another one. Pronto.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on what she's wasting. Current nanny uses a ton of paper towels. No idea how she goes through so many. But so not worth bringing up because she's a fantastic nanny and in the grand scheme of Things, this waste is not a big deal at all.

If she were wasting food depending on how it was being wasted I'd talk to her.

Yikes! I hope you are not my boss!

I use a lot of paper towels during the day, I use them to wipe my face after eating, to clean up minor spills on the floor + counters plus I use them to clean my charge's face after meals/snacks.

I guess I should ask his parents for a baby washcloth instead.

You're being a bit dramatic. This MB pp said nothing to warrant an eye roll. There are alternatives for all of the things you mention. I use a baby washcloth to clean our hands and faces after lunch, and toss them in with the kid laundry. We have a spong dedicated to cleaning spills on the tables and counters, seperate from the one we use for dishes. I only use the paper towels to clean messes that would soil the rags/washcloths beyond use, say for cleaning up paint or something gross. I dont even buy paper towels for my household and I am conscious of not overusing them at work.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

I bought $40-some dollars of kinetic sand from Amazon. It lasted one afternoon and she threw it out because it went everywhere so she wiped it up with paper towels and put it with the food trash. I think this is what broke the camel's back.

She does use paper towels a lot though although I wouldn't mention this topic just for that. Sometimes she is talking to me while washing hands and she pulls out the paper towel from the roll probably an arms length (3-4 squares), wipes her hands and throws in the trash.

She's 24.

Crayons broken? Trash.

a 250 pack construction paper with just a little scribble on the corners and folding b/c 2 year old had a couple of minutes with it? Of course those are used so they would obviously be trash.

Made a plate of chicken nuggets and no one is hungry? Trash in 5 minutes (She doesn't even leave it out for later.)

I think she needs a talk but I feel like I'm asking her to change her entire style of being (at our house, not sure what she does at her house), not just change one little thing. I feel like I would be asking "Can you be a different person?" I'm not sure if this is worth it. Maybe I should just get a new nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

I bought $40-some dollars of kinetic sand from Amazon. It lasted one afternoon and she threw it out because it went everywhere so she wiped it up with paper towels and put it with the food trash. I think this is what broke the camel's back.

She does use paper towels a lot though although I wouldn't mention this topic just for that. Sometimes she is talking to me while washing hands and she pulls out the paper towel from the roll probably an arms length (3-4 squares), wipes her hands and throws in the trash.

She's 24.

Crayons broken? Trash.

a 250 pack construction paper with just a little scribble on the corners and folding b/c 2 year old had a couple of minutes with it? Of course those are used so they would obviously be trash.

Made a plate of chicken nuggets and no one is hungry? Trash in 5 minutes (She doesn't even leave it out for later.)

I think she needs a talk but I feel like I'm asking her to change her entire style of being (at our house, not sure what she does at her house), not just change one little thing. I feel like I would be asking "Can you be a different person?" I'm not sure if this is worth it. Maybe I should just get a new nanny.

BTW, Kinetic sand sticks to itself so cleaning up is like playdoh. I had been balling up all the pieces that fell on the floor and putting them back into the bag to play with until next time... the next time the nanny found it and it was gone..

[Anonymous]

why don't you get a dish towel and have her use that instead of paper towels?

why don't you ask her to put uneaten food in a tupperware?

why don't you explain to her what the sand is? I'm not a wasteful person but if you handed me a bucket of sand and it got everywhere, I would throw it away during clean up thinking that I was being helpful. I've never heard of $40 sand, so maybe she hasn't either

why don't you put a jar aside for broken crayons?

if you want to fire her over this it's your prerogative, but it seems a little silly when there are so many other options