Does your nanny...
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Anonymous
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Organize toys/clothes?
-Our nanny always leaves the playroom clean (i.e., no toys laying out on the floor, etc.). But she throws toys haphazardly into various bins/baskets. For example, if I organize the book bin over the weekend, by Wed it will be a disaster- books thrown in, facing different directions, so it's hard to see what books are where. Or a set of four puzzles will have all the pieces mixed up. Or a basket of balls will have balls, plus five other random toys thrown in. Am I being way too nitpicky, or can I ask nanny to keep the toys a bit neater? -Our nanny does DD's laundry, but will place a pile of folded laundry in DD's dresser drawers, not really organized. I have one drawer for shirts, but nanny will put rompers and dresses in there too. Again, all folded, so not messy looking per se, but still disorganized. Cook for your kid(s)? -Our nanny will do very simple meal prep- cereal with milk and sliced strawberries for breakfast, frozen Mac and cheese for lunch, a cheese stick for snack, etc. On maybe 5 occasions in a year she has used the stove (at our request) to make rice/pasta or scrambled eggs. I feel like I shouldn't need to micromanage what she prepares for lunch, but is it unreasonable to expect her to cook more? FWIW, our contract is not specific about any of these things, but she is paid at the high end of the market ($20/hr for one child, plus 10 hours of overtime per week, guaranteed hours, a transportation stipend, health insurance stipend, 3 weeks PTO, and we pay her cell phone bill). She also does the family laundry and keeps the kitchen tidy and vacuums the kitchen/playroom, takes out trash, and does dishes. So, I want to be fair about our expectations here. |
Anonymous
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Yes, ours does all of these things. Occasionally he reorganizes the playroom a new way so the kids will notice different toys, but there's always a system and it's always neat. Dresser and closet are always organized.
Cooking happens daily. Nothing big, and sometimes he's heating up something DH made over the weekend like soup, but then he'll make soup and grilled cheese. Often makes ravioli and a little salad, or a veggie omelette, things like that. Nothing super labor intensive. |
Anonymous
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I am like you and want everything put back where it goes. A lot of childcare providers (and even parents) don't care as long as it looks tidy. This is an area I would address at an annual review, and ask her to make more of an effort, and to let you know if there are organizational tools that would help (like more bins or shelves).
As for cooking, some people can't cook. You can give her some ideas, or prep stuff to heat up, but she's already doing a lot of housework and probably doesn't want more dishes to wash. |
Anonymous
| For $20/hour she should be putting things back where they belong and making hot meals. I wouldn't wait for an annual review to address it - I'd talk to her now. |
Anonymous
| Nanny here. I make $19 for twins with 10 overtime hours and no other benefits and I am very organized wrt clothes/toys and I cook everything the kids eat from scratch, but I also don't do family laundry or dishes. I think a basic level of organization is totally understandable, but maybe not having every single thing organized to death. Could you have most of the less-used toys put away in their spots but the things that get played with daily go in one big toy bin (to be sorted through once a month or so)? She may just not cook, in which case you might need to talk through your expectations vs. her abilities and meet in the middle. |
Anonymous
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When you & your nanny have a few minutes together, then feel free to let your nanny know that the toys/puzzles/books need to be put away in a more organized fashion.
Ditto for the clothes. You may have to show her how you like things, but she should catch on pretty fast if you make it clear how much of a priority it is. As for the cooking, did you specify that you wanted her to actually cook for your child vs. simple good prep? If yes, then she should be following through. If not, then it isn't really her fault at this point. |
Anonymous
| *food |
Anonymous
You're being underpaid. |
Anonymous
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I would say to the Nanny " tomorrow when you and Larla have some time could you help her organize her books in the bin please"
I would make it sound like you want your kid to do it and she needs to supervise that. Same with the puzzles. |
Anonymous
| Yes. Ours does. The babys dressers are far more organized after she started than. Toys get washed often and put away. She makes some baby food as well and said she will cook more once the baby eats more adult food (nanny is a great cook and enjoys it). |
Anonymous
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Nanny here and I am not sure it is helpful to compare nannies, remember we are people not things. With that said, perhaps your nanny does not know you are un-happy and you need to communicate to her your expectations. Every nanny job is different even if we do some of the same things, we all have our positives and our challenges, some nannies are good at tiding, some great at laundry, some good a cooking and some at housekeeping in general and some that think they are wonder woman of the nanny world. How is she with taking care of your child?
It is important that you do communicate with your nanny soon as the problem will escalate and you will be so angry that it will show in a most negative way. Use your contract as a guide and see if you can come up with a plan that will make you happy. |
Anonymous
| OP here- thanks for the advice, all! I especially like the idea of having DD help clean up- and she is 3.5, so definitely old enough to be involved. Nanny is great otherwise, and I know these are little things. I just wanted to get a sense of whether my expectations were off-base or not, based on what other nannies and families do. |
Anonymous
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Nanny here. I make $18/hr for one child, no other additional responsibilities.
In regards to these two issues, have you ever laid out your preferences for the nanny? She may not realize that you want her to organize the toys/clothes as opposed to just putting them up or to cook different kinds of food if you've never told her what you prefer. While you may just be wanting her to read your mind and know how you want things she may just be doing what she thinks is fine and devoting other time to doing her other tasks. Also, in regards to the cooking, what did you tell her originally the cooking duties would entail? As a nanny, one of my pet peeves in when parents tell me in an interview that there will just be "light" cooking or basically re-heating but then are disappointed when I'm not whipping up whole meals from scratch. And it's not because I'm lazy because I can cook well and enjoy cooking, it's because it can be an especially challenging task with a child your child's age and there's no reason for me to make it more difficult on myself if the parents haven't asked for it. This is because a 3.5 year old is at that age where they're likely only napping once during the day and can't/won't be put down in a confined safe space like a crib for a long enough period to cook a complete meal but also are too young for the nanny to feel comfortable leaving them alone for the time it would take for to prepare and cook a meal in the kitchen. So, the nanny may be making these simple meals because they're all she can manage while also watching the child at the same time. If you want her to make more elaborate meals maybe cut down on some of the other tasks she's doing that's taking up her free time. |
Anonymous
Housekeepers make $50/hr. Nannies take care of children. They do not keep house. |
Anonymous
They do not keep house but they clean up after the children and put away children's stuff and maybe teach the kids to clean up with them together. |