Hours per week for nanny / housekeeper

[Anonymous]

We're looking to hire an after school nanny to care for our two kids, ages 5 and 7. In addition to that, we'd also like this person to do some household related work, including:

Meal prep / make dinner for the family ~3 nights per week
Run errands (dry cleaning, groceries, post office) 2-3 times per week
Tidy up the house daily (wiping down counters, spot clean floors with hand vac, load/empty dishwasher, etc)
Handle the deep cleaning of the house on an as needed basis (we currently have a weekly cleaner but would like the new person to take this over, to give more flexibility in when things are done). This includes kids laundry and all bedding for the house, but not adult clothing laundry.

How many hours per week would make sense for this work? About ten hours per week will be time with the kids where the nanny couldn't do anything else, at other times, when at home with the kids, nanny could do some of the household work, although obviously not as efficiently as when the kids are in school.

We're generally pretty clean and I'm happy to be flexible about when most things are done, but I also want to be realistic about how much time this is likely to involve.

[Anonymous]

First, you are looking for a housekeeper who babysits and not a nanny. You should post on the Housekeeper forum.

Second, do it yourself and see how long it takes you with the kids in the house. That is the only way you can really know -- and even then remembering that you know where everything is and where everything goes so add a bit of extra time for the maid's learning curve.

[Anonymous]

I would assume 40 hours when you want child care, a spotless house, meals and errands.

[Anonymous]

I would say 30-35 hours a week. And you are looking at $25 for this type of work.

[Anonymous]

We have an amazing housekeeper who dies all the deep cleaning, tidying, and laundry for our family of four. She works hard, and it takes her about 12 hours a week. Add in 10 hour of change ldcwre, 2 hours for additional tidying days, and 2 hours for meal prep, and you are past 25 hours before errands. Pus, once you hit this level of actual working hours, you need to fit in some paid breaks. Laundry doesn't take a nap! So, I'd say an easy 35-40 hours.

[Anonymous]

PP here again. Also, you mentioned flexibility. We don't pay as much hourly as some of our housekeepers weekly clients, but she says we are some of her favorites. We guarentee not to cancel, throw in a lot of random bonuses and surprise PTO (she negotiated a higher hourly instead of regular PTO), recognize a great job even if it isn't exactly how we might do things, and give her /a lot/ of flexibility in when things are done.

Someone good at this sort of job will have a great work ethic and a lot of hustle. Putting together a job package that is liveable and giving her the flexibility to fit in other jobs (who may not be that flexibile) is really important.

[Anonymous]

Op I advertised this same position, but with just one kid. The person works 3:30-6:30. In this time, the responsibilities are picking up DS from daycare (walking distance), doing routine pickup (toys in the living room, counters, dishes in the sink), laundry, and meal prep, plus one daily cleaning chore (stripping beds, dusting etc.). Rarely any errand running necessary. I got a ton of applicants at $15/hr. But it's just me and my son in a small condo, so the work is definitely less than if I lived in a big house with say 3 kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op I advertised this same position, but with just one kid. The person works 3:30-6:30. In this time, the responsibilities are picking up DS from daycare (walking distance), doing routine pickup (toys in the living room, counters, dishes in the sink), laundry, and meal prep, plus one daily cleaning chore (stripping beds, dusting etc.). Rarely any errand running necessary. I got a ton of applicants at $15/hr. But it's just me and my son in a small condo, so the work is definitely less than if I lived in a big house with say 3 kids.

This still is a lot of responsibility PP.

I would think $15/HR wouldn’t be quite enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're looking to hire an after school nanny to care for our two kids, ages 5 and 7. In addition to that, we'd also like this person to do some household related work, including:

Meal prep / make dinner for the family ~3 nights per week
Run errands (dry cleaning, groceries, post office) 2-3 times per week
Tidy up the house daily (wiping down counters, spot clean floors with hand vac, load/empty dishwasher, etc)
Handle the deep cleaning of the house on an as needed basis (we currently have a weekly cleaner but would like the new person to take this over, to give more flexibility in when things are done). This includes kids laundry and all bedding for the house, but not adult clothing laundry.

How many hours per week would make sense for this work? About ten hours per week will be time with the kids where the nanny couldn't do anything else, at other times, when at home with the kids, nanny could do some of the household work, although obviously not as efficiently as when the kids are in school.

We're generally pretty clean and I'm happy to be flexible about when most things are done, but I also want to be realistic about how much time this is likely to involve.

I have this type of housekeeper, but definitly NOT the deep cleaning. She does the following:

Grocery shopping, laundry, basic meal prep (like chopping and marinades), errands, and basic tidying. This is all before the kids get off the bus at 345.

We have a separate deep cleaning service that takes 4 people 2 hours to complete. Can't imagine off loading that type of work to a nanny for 8 solid hours.

Our nanny/housekeeper works 30hrs a week for $21/hr. Suburbs outside the beltway. She paid 52 weeks a year. Gets all days off that we are home/traveling. Plus she gets 2 weeks off a yesr of her choice. I remimburse at the federal rste for all mileage. I supply her with a credit car for all expenses related to thr house.

Do not expect a "great " nanny for this either. Our nanny/housekeeper is more of a housekeeper than nanny, but our kids are older and this is what we really need right now in out lives. Whrn my kids were little, we strictly had a professional nanny. Now we jusy need someone to keep an eye on them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're looking to hire an after school nanny to care for our two kids, ages 5 and 7. In addition to that, we'd also like this person to do some household related work, including:

Meal prep / make dinner for the family ~3 nights per week
Run errands (dry cleaning, groceries, post office) 2-3 times per week
Tidy up the house daily (wiping down counters, spot clean floors with hand vac, load/empty dishwasher, etc)
Handle the deep cleaning of the house on an as needed basis (we currently have a weekly cleaner but would like the new person to take this over, to give more flexibility in when things are done). This includes kids laundry and all bedding for the house, but not adult clothing laundry.

How many hours per week would make sense for this work? About ten hours per week will be time with the kids where the nanny couldn't do anything else, at other times, when at home with the kids, nanny could do some of the household work, although obviously not as efficiently as when the kids are in school.

We're generally pretty clean and I'm happy to be flexible about when most things are done, but I also want to be realistic about how much time this is likely to involve.

I have this type of housekeeper, but definitly NOT the deep cleaning. She does the following:

Grocery shopping, laundry, basic meal prep (like chopping and marinades), errands, and basic tidying. This is all before the kids get off the bus at 345.

We have a separate deep cleaning service that takes 4 people 2 hours to complete. Can't imagine off loading that type of work to a nanny for 8 solid hours.

Our nanny/housekeeper works 30hrs a week for $21/hr. Suburbs outside the beltway. She paid 52 weeks a year. Gets all days off that we are home/traveling. Plus she gets 2 weeks off a yesr of her choice. I remimburse at the federal rste for all mileage. I supply her with a credit car for all expenses related to thr house.

Do not expect a "great " nanny for this either. Our nanny/housekeeper is more of a housekeeper than nanny, but our kids are older and this is what we really need right now in out lives. Whrn my kids were little, we strictly had a professional nanny. Now we jusy need someone to keep an eye on them.

I would fold in the deep cleaning if the person wants to do it, and bump it to 40 hours a week. Then you have someone for school closings, too.

Right now I have two people: a part time housekeeper (25 hours/week), and a full time nanny. I have 4 kids, two in school. Once all four are in school, I plan to switch to a housekeeper/nanny. Older kids don't need as much creative play planning; they need a kind person who can drive, answer the occasional homework question, keep them safe, and maybe be willing to play a board game or two with them if she's hanging out with them for a whole day. So, I plan to prioritize the housekeeping part.

My 25-hour/wk housekeeper does not do deep cleaning. She stays very busy, though. The kids eat up the first hour she's here (I'm here, too, but then I take the older ones to school, and she's with the younger ones until the nanny arrives). She cleans up from breakfast, makes lunchboxes, does all of our laundry, does meal prep (we do Blue Apron), grocery shops, runs errands, does general cleaning and organizing. Just due to her personal skill set she also mends torn items, replaces patches on my husband's uniforms, sometimes cooks. Lately she's been packing away all of my breakable knick-knacks because the kids have come close to breaking a few of them. There's always something for her to do.

[Anonymous]

We have a live in nanny/housekeeper and she works easily 40 hours a week doing all the above tasks plus driving.