Working for a parent who WFH.

[Anonymous]

My employer works from home and it’s been rough.

She comes out on her lunch break to prepare a meal or move the laundry. My 2 year old charge is very clingy and attached to her. She will sit down and play with him - while I just stand there awkwardly and they both ignore me like I’m not even there. When she had to go back to work - he will cry so hard when she leaves. Sometimes she will come back out to engage him in a toy or activity to distract him, which only disrupts my attempts to soothe him.

She removed the baby gate from his playroom so he has full rein of the house. He will bang on her office door and she lets him in to get her "snuggle time" and then basically dismisses me for 15 minutes.

I asked her if I could put the gate back up and she said she didn’t want her son kept in the playroom all day. I told her he gets really distracted when he hears her voice and she basically just looked at me and didn’t offer a solution.

She is constantly micromanaging me. She will text me when he’s down for a nap and ask me to set up water or outside toys for him or fold his laundry after I’ve been chasing him around all morning.

I don’t know if I can keep this job with her constantly hovering. She only pays me $20/hr but basically treats me like a teenager. I asked her when she is planning on returning to her office and she said she’s going to be WFH indefinitely!

[Anonymous]

Yeah parents working from is hard. During nap you should get a break. I don’t know why parents don’t understand that. I’d look for another job.

[Anonymous]

Give your notice tomorrow and start looking for another job. You’re situation will never improve because of that mother and you aren’t being paid enough.

I work for a work-from-home mother (and temporarily father) and it has never been a problem.

[Anonymous]

The only way wfh works right now during covid is for school age kids. I wouldn’t survive under three during this mess. There are so many jobs right now, I suggest getting one supervising DL. It’s so easy and the parents leave you alone. I’ll go back to working with babies once parents go back to the office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only way wfh works right now during covid is for school age kids. I wouldn’t survive under three during this mess. There are so many jobs right now, I suggest getting one supervising DL. It’s so easy and the parents leave you alone. I’ll go back to working with babies once parents go back to the office.

Dl is a breeze with some kids, but it's worse than trying to wrangle 7 toddlers running in crazy circles at other times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only way wfh works right now during covid is for school age kids. I wouldn’t survive under three during this mess. There are so many jobs right now, I suggest getting one supervising DL. It’s so easy and the parents leave you alone. I’ll go back to working with babies once parents go back to the office.

I disagree. My employer has always WFH and it’s worked out great. It all depends on the attitude of the parents. If the parents are going to act like OP’s employers, the child (and nanny) are going to be miserable.

[Anonymous]

I have a 2.5 yr old charge and both parents are WFH right now. Not a huge house but it works out great because they are respectful of me being in charge and give us space. Basically anything to make my job easier. OP your boss sucks and she doesn’t seem to care that you’re miserable. I’d be willing to bet she knows she makes it harder on you and that it’s awkward. There are so many jobs available right now, give notice and start looking. I got all four job offers that I found on this forum (from responses I got to my ad). You can get paid more and your life will be so much easier. WFH is not a recipe for disaster when you find the right family. Also one who allows outings has been a lifesaver.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 2.5 yr old charge and both parents are WFH right now. Not a huge house but it works out great because they are respectful of me being in charge and give us space. Basically anything to make my job easier. OP your boss sucks and she doesn’t seem to care that you’re miserable. I’d be willing to bet she knows she makes it harder on you and that it’s awkward. There are so many jobs available right now, give notice and start looking. I got all four job offers that I found on this forum (from responses I got to my ad). You can get paid more and your life will be so much easier. WFH is not a recipe for disaster when you find the right family. Also one who allows outings has been a lifesaver.

+1. Your employer doesn’t care that you’re miserable and far more importantly doesn’t care that she’s making her poor child miserable. I had a former employer like that. She actually got off on her poor child crying for her.

You need to quit, OP.

[Anonymous]

This Mother does not seem like she knows how to be a good “work-from-home” employer.

Your job sounds terrible to me.

She shouldn’t be interacting so much that she leaves her child miserable once she leaves.
And you should be allowed to rest during the child’s nap time!

It sounds like she is only concerned w/stretching her dollar & not focused on her child receiving efficient childcare.
Since she will not be returning to her office - I would look for a better fit.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

It seems odd that most nannies think that they should rest during the child’s nap time. She should rest for an hour, but the rest of the time she should be folding the babies clothes or setting up for water play (using the examples from the post) ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems odd that most nannies think that they should rest during the child’s nap time. She should rest for an hour, but the rest of the time she should be folding the babies clothes or setting up for water play (using the examples from the post) ...

I don't even think nannies should eat lunch. It just takes time away from them performing their paid duties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems odd that most nannies think that they should rest during the child’s nap time. She should rest for an hour, but the rest of the time she should be folding the babies clothes or setting up for water play (using the examples from the post) ...

I’m a nanny and I agree. I get my child-related chores done when my charge is napping.

That said, I think nannies were responding to the texting and micromanaging as being the issue. And that I definitely agree with.

[Anonymous]

Charge double for WAHM.