Poor time management

[Anonymous]

We love our nanny and she's been with us for two years now. Time management, however, is not her strongest suit. For example, she'll usually leave our daughter's dishes until the very end of the day when I come home rather than do them during the two-hour nap, which typically means she's doing the dishes "after hours." Or today she said she started bath time around 4:45, which means she's still here at 5:15 finishing up rather than leaving at 5, which is when her hours end.

I don't think she intentionally does this to get out of tasks (both dishes and baths are in our contract) and she doesn't seem to mind leaving late in the evenings, but for some reason I feel bad about it. Should I say something about it? I feel weird with her consistently staying 15-20 minutes later then expected even if the only reason she does is because of choices she's made on how she manages her time.

[Anonymous]

Just tell her you want her to do the dishes at 12:30 or whatever time each day, and you want bath started no later than 4:15 or whatever time to get her finished at her end time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just tell her you want her to do the dishes at 12:30 or whatever time each day, and you want bath started no later than 4:15 or whatever time to get her finished at her end time.

+1. I am a nanny and my charge is bathed with the kitchen spotless when my employers come home. I fill them in on my charge's day and do a happy, easy transition for my charge.

[Anonymous]

Uhhh as a nanny I would NEVER put off doing things that would make me stay late.

[Anonymous]

With young kids who nap? There's no reason not to get things done early!

Otoh, I'm in your nanny's boat, and until I explained what was happening to my employers, they felt the same way you do. My charges are all pre-k and older, and my day starts later, but I work 8+ hours with kids who don't nap. We have a minimum of 1.5 hours every afternoon after pick up for combined activities and driving. There are days that I leave immediately with my youngest charge and go out with him, pick up one sibling on the way home, then we're home just long enough to change clothes and pack dinner, then we're off to activities until 7, and it simply means that there isn't time for bath, dishes and dessert before a parent gets home. Once I explained, they understood the issues. Is there any chance your nanny is having similar issues, like leftover dishes from dinner, or nap runs late, so bath is late?

Also, my personal opinion is that the "extra" time should be unpaid, if it's truly a time management issue.

[Anonymous]

Are you paying the Nanny for the extra time?

If yes, then she may be trying to run a good hustle here.

If not, remind her that during nap times is when the dishes should be cleaned daily.

Any reasonable, smart Nanny will get it.

[Anonymous]

I tend to do this. I work 13 hour days with twin toddlers and they aren’t great nappers so I only have about 45 minutes of guaranteed overlapping naptimes. I COULD use that time to get a ton of stuff done and then walk out the door on time at the end of the day, but I really need that break to pee alone, eat something sitting down, check my email, etc. And zooming through it all at 8pm is actually a nice wind down from the day. I think the big question is:

1) Is it costing you money? She should not be charging for tasks she procrastinated earlier.
2) Does it bother you to have her in your space? This is totally valid and you should be up front that it is hard to have family time/unwide in your own house with another person there.

[Anonymous]

After working all day she needs to rest. Dishes I usually do it when my charge is eating and I let her play with her toys after. While my charge naps I wanna rest too so I have energy for my charge.
Also your nanny bathes your kid? I wouldn't accept that, that's too much work.

[Anonymous]

Maybe she's unhappy with the job. Nannies dont do this unless they're not happy with the salary and treatment you are giving. But who knows, maybe she's tired. Let her rest and maybe she can the kids dishes only while the kid eats lunch.

[Anonymous]

OP here. A couple of answers:

1) Daughter naps for about two hours a day and thankfully is a good sleeper so nanny can count on having that time. The few times I've been home during the day it seems that nanny takes that time to eat and then either watches shows on her iPad or studies/does homework (she takes night classes).
2) I do not mind her staying an extra 10-15 minutes. It's not an imposition to us since we truly enjoy her company and even if I want to go outside or for a walk with our daughter now that the weather is nicer, our nanny just locks up behind her.
3) Yes, she bathes our daughter twice a week. This has been the case since she started with us and has always been written into the contract.

We have not paid her for the extra time because it seems to be a choice she's making to keep naptime free for things she wants/needs to do. This is a semi-regular occurrence, but I think it felt awkward this most recent time because I came home shortly before her ending time and she was still giving DD a bath. I considered poking my head in to say I could take it from here (instead of starting dinner like I did), but honestly I felt like she should have just started 30 minutes earlier to finish on time (and her notes from the day and recap did not indicate anything that prevented them from starting sooner...They were playing at home. There were no sports or activities pick-ups, diaper blowouts, vomit emergencies, or anything of the sort).

For me, my guess is that she likes to take the time to unwind and prioritizes having some downtime over leaving at 5 pm on the dot. I'll ask her directly the next time it happens, but thought I'd just get some feedback as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After working all day she needs to rest. Dishes I usually do it when my charge is eating and I let her play with her toys after. While my charge naps I wanna rest too so I have energy for my charge.
Also your nanny bathes your kid? I wouldn't accept that, that's too much work.

Your a nanny and you think baths are too much work??? Weird.

[Anonymous]

I would talk with her and say that you'd like her to start bathtime earlier, and do the dishes earlier in the day so that she is able to fully hand off to you when you get home and leave on time.

[Anonymous]

OP, if it’s not an inconvenience to you, I’d leave it be. If the bath, or anything else, gets in the way of your evening routine, then you should mention it.

[Anonymous]

Like a PP said why would you even mention it if it doesn’t bother you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After working all day she needs to rest. Dishes I usually do it when my charge is eating and I let her play with her toys after. While my charge naps I wanna rest too so I have energy for my charge.
Also your nanny bathes your kid? I wouldn't accept that, that's too much work.

One child. Of course the nanny should do the baths.