UNAPPRECIATED NANNY

[Anonymous]

Hi to all,
This may not be what people may want to hear but I decided to give it a go. My Mom has been a Nanny for over 20 years, taught Sunday school, has 7 God children, 2 grandchildren and 2 children (24 and 35) of her own. We currently live in the Northern Virginia area and she has been out of a job since July. We have been sending her references to emails from this forum, we hear from a few people, they say they will call back and then we don't hear from them anymore. My mom then decided to get her Home Health Aide certificate because of this, they called her references and were amazed of how highly her past employers spoke of her and her work ethic. But we don't understand, why we don't hear back from people. If we do hear back from people they want to pay my Mother $13-$15/hr before taxes.
If this was your family member or friend how would you feel?

So then we began to think maybe it is her pay, but she has been working with kids for 20+ years and her pay range for one child is $18 an hour negotiable, 2 weeks paid vacation, 5 days sick leave and federal holidays depending on if the employer works for the government[u]. She has been saying that I should bring her price down but then I think "What type of quality care do people want from a Nanny?". Why would you go low or pay for daycare for a child that is 3-9months and they aren't getting that one on one time to develop certain skills? Every time I come home from work I see my mom sitting there looking out the window and it breaks my heart. I would like to know from parents, what exactly are we doing wrong or why don't you want to pay that amount? Is it too much for quality care?
Thanks
-Unappreciated Nanny's daughter

[Anonymous]

It could be her age or level of education. I recommend going through agencies for both nannies and home health aid. Don't feel so bad, someone will eventually hire her.

[Anonymous]

I think we will do just that. Thank you

[Anonymous]

I think her age is probably a major factor. People worry about the stamina, health, and "fun factor" of an older nanny. For better or worse, people also have a hard time hiring someone older than themselves that they will have to manage as an employee, or might have to let go at some point.

There is also the fact that you seem to be acting as a go-between for her, which suggests either that her language skills aren't great, or she's not able to use technology well.

How has she found jobs in the past?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think her age is probably a major factor. People worry about the stamina, health, and "fun factor" of an older nanny. For better or worse, people also have a hard time hiring someone older than themselves that they will have to manage as an employee, or might have to let go at some point.

There is also the fact that you seem to be acting as a go-between for her, which suggests either that her language skills aren't great, or she's not able to use technology well.

How has she found jobs in the past?

MB here and I agree with this, especially the bolded section.

We hired an older nanny for our babies, and she was terrific. But her language skills were a bigger barrier as the kids got older. So in subsequent hires we were much less flexible on requiring true fluency in English - both written and verbal. At $18/hr parents will be interviewing a pretty wide range of people so they may be tipped easily in a different direction by fluency, more recent employment, perceptions of age/stamina/energy level, etc...

See what you can do in terms of local listservs, parenting groups, etc... - my best leads have always come from other parents (rather than DCUM or care.com or those kinds of places.) So maybe you can get some traction if you get people to put a note up on neighborhood listservs, or your mom can offer to be a vacation nanny or something like that until she finds full-time employment.

I just hired a new nanny last month and it's pretty competitive out there at the $18/hr level. There are lots of people looking for work, so your mom is experiencing the hard side of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think her age is probably a major factor. People worry about the stamina, health, and "fun factor" of an older nanny. For better or worse, people also have a hard time hiring someone older than themselves that they will have to manage as an employee, or might have to let go at some point.

There is also the fact that you seem to be acting as a go-between for her, which suggests either that her language skills aren't great, or she's not able to use technology well.

How has she found jobs in the past?

From 2000-2004, she was with a family of 3 girls. Was there when the younger two were born and helped them with Math, Writing and Reading.

From 2005- 2012 she took care of two boys, left when the oldest was 7 and the young one was 5. That was because they began school full time.

From 2012- 2016, she was with 3 different families and they had a contract of a year, so they can start putting their children into daycare.

I send her resume and references but they speak directly to her. In the past, she got jobs the same way I am doing it or the previous employer looks for. But it seems as though her past employer has been a bit lax on helping and its a bit frustrating, because the agreement for her and the employer was if there is no severance pay they would help her get a job by posting and contacting people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think her age is probably a major factor. People worry about the stamina, health, and "fun factor" of an older nanny. For better or worse, people also have a hard time hiring someone older than themselves that they will have to manage as an employee, or might have to let go at some point.

There is also the fact that you seem to be acting as a go-between for her, which suggests either that her language skills aren't great, or she's not able to use technology well.

How has she found jobs in the past?

MB here and I agree with this, especially the bolded section.

We hired an older nanny for our babies, and she was terrific. But her language skills were a bigger barrier as the kids got older. So in subsequent hires we were much less flexible on requiring true fluency in English - both written and verbal. At $18/hr parents will be interviewing a pretty wide range of people so they may be tipped easily in a different direction by fluency, more recent employment, perceptions of age/stamina/energy level, etc...

See what you can do in terms of local listservs, parenting groups, etc... - my best leads have always come from other parents (rather than DCUM or care.com or those kinds of places.) So maybe you can get some traction if you get people to put a note up on neighborhood listservs, or your mom can offer to be a vacation nanny or something like that until she finds full-time employment.


I definitely understand where you are coming from. She is fluent in English and her writing skills are of a Junior in High School. So I believe she is decent, but she prefers new-borns to infants and I don't think her writing skills are necessary during that age or is it? I am really trying to get as much feedback as I can to help her out. But thank you so much for your suggestions. I really appreciate it.
I just hired a new nanny last month and it's pretty competitive out there at the $18/hr level. There are lots of people looking for work, so your mom is experiencing the hard side of that.

[Anonymous]

I have a 1 yr old and 3 yr old and specifically wanted a young nanny who can dash into the street if needed, and who can run around all afternoon. I also didn't want someone who has tons of experience and would think their experience trumps what I want done. So I looked for someone with enough experience to know this is what they want to do, but not decades of experience.

Also, why do you say your mother wants $18 an hour but that's negotiable, but then won't negotiate down to $15? Just say then that she wants to be paid $16-18 or whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think her age is probably a major factor. People worry about the stamina, health, and "fun factor" of an older nanny. For better or worse, people also have a hard time hiring someone older than themselves that they will have to manage as an employee, or might have to let go at some point.

Bingo.

[Anonymous]

With her experience and age, she would be a wonderful companion for seniors. I assume she can drive and is in good shape physically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 1 yr old and 3 yr old and specifically wanted a young nanny who can dash into the street if needed, and who can run around all afternoon. I also didn't want someone who has tons of experience and would think their experience trumps what I want done. So I looked for someone with enough experience to know this is what they want to do, but not decades of experience.

Also, why do you say your mother wants $18 an hour but that's negotiable, but then won't negotiate down to $15? Just say then that she wants to be paid $16-18 or whatever.

So parents are now looking for Nannies that are young and naive?? That listen without having a conversation about concerning topics?

We do state $18/hr and when the parent has issues about pay thats when it is negotiable to $16 depending on the vibe my mom feels with the family. I put $18 for negotiable for everyone reading to understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With her experience and age, she would be a wonderful companion for seniors. I assume she can drive and is in good shape physically.

Yes, she is looking into that now with the Home Health Aide cert. But she absolutely loves babies, our house is sometimes full with God children, cousins and grand kids. Just imagine the running, food and mess.lol. She adores them, so its hard for her to pull away from being a Nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With her experience and age, she would be a wonderful companion for seniors. I assume she can drive and is in good shape physically.

Yes, she is looking into that now with the Home Health Aide cert. But she absolutely loves babies, our house is sometimes full with God children, cousins and grand kids. Just imagine the running, food and mess.lol. She adores them, so its hard for her to pull away from being a Nanny.

I understand but she may be able to command a higher rate and work longer. There is such a great need for people like your mom who are intelligent, patient and have a caregiver's heart. I happen to have a special needs young adult daughter and pay $25 plus exceptional benefits to keep her current caregiver. I also have elderly parents in another state who are paying $20/hr for someone to make simple meals and drive them to doctor's appointments.

[Anonymous]

There is also the fact that you seem to be acting as a go-between for her, which suggests either that her language skills aren't great, or she's not able to use technology well.

We hired an older nanny for our 3 kids because we thought that she'd be more likely to have patience and would be more responsible. Having said that, I strongly doubt that I would have considered any nanny who had her daughter acting as a go-between. The candidate would have to be over-the-top amazing in every other way to make up for my concerns over that situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There is also the fact that you seem to be acting as a go-between for her, which suggests either that her language skills aren't great, or she's not able to use technology well.

We hired an older nanny for our 3 kids because we thought that she'd be more likely to have patience and would be more responsible. Having said that, I strongly doubt that I would have considered any nanny who had her daughter acting as a go-between. The candidate would have to be over-the-top amazing in every other way to make up for my concerns over that situation.

Ma'am/Sir I replied to this statement in the previous posts I am not her "in betweener". But thanks