Moving from au pair to part time nanny/house manager/driver...

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I'm sorry if this is the wrong forum, but I have a question.

I have had au pairs for 7 years and I'm tiring of it. My kids are nearly 11 and 8.5. They are in school full time (8:30-3:30) and they visit their father after school for about 4 hrs, 3 days a week.

Primarily, I use my au pairs for morning prep before school (I can take over), driving to/from school, light chores related to kids, and care after school on the days the kids are with me (I am divorced). Once in a while, I might need help on a Saturday morning, but that's rare.

I was thinking of moving to a part-time sitter/nanny, who can drive, as well as take care of the house duties, and care for the kids the nights I am with them (so 4 hrs x 2 days a week).

What would a reasonable rate for this? I would provide a car for them to use, take care of the gas. How many hours to guarantee would be reasonable? I would think 15-20 hrs a week.
Where would you advertise for it?

Has anyone gone this route? I worry about tenure too...would this be attractive enough for a part time gig? Longevity wise, I would need at least 5 years until my oldest could drive...

Thanks!!

[Anonymous]

I think finding and retaining good people would be hardest challenge OP. My hunch (totally hunch - little actual info to go on beyond my own nanny/housekeeper type searches over the years) is that you'd need to pay $20-25/hr for 15-20 hours a week for it to appeal to anyone.

You might get luck and find someone for whom this is a perfect fit if they can work it around another part-time job, or if there is another family in your neighborhood that needs to scale back the amount of hours they need help.

I'd start w/ your local listservs and every parent you know - tell them what you're looking for and ask them to let you know if they know of anyone.

You can also try care.com and sittercity and those kinds of things but i think your best bet will be though word of mouth referrals.

Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

$20-$25 an hour.