Nannies what have you done to earn a bonus? Examples, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Also, food for thought:
if the nanny indeed needs to go above and beyond her job duties in order to earn her bonus....
Each year, the nanny will have to "out-do" herself in order to get another bonus.

Year one she has extra time so she cooks dinners for the family and will sometimes help with their laundry.

Year two suddenly those now aren't above and beyond since she's been doing them. Does she take on cleaning to "earn" her bonus?

Basically, yes. The nanny needs to exceed every year to earn a bonus. That said, if she did something extra the first year, like the cooking and laundry examples you give above, and it became a regular expected duty, the nanny can use that to negotiate a permanent raise for those new duties.

But, in the absence of that, she is definitely in the position of going above and beyond to earn a raise. Just showing up and doing your job is simply not enough to warrant a bonus.

Be smart, nannies. Drop your constant whining about your bills and what you perceive your MB has that you don't. You chose this line of work. Whining gets you nothing, especially in this area. So, change it up. Do an exemplary job. Earn a bonus. Document your successes and negotiate permanent raises. Move on from families you don't feel pay well. Earn all the certifications you can. Be professional.

Okay, but can someone please give examples of what "above and beyond" would entail if you have a very specific contract that already covers the needs of the family you work for? And if after the first year, you negotiate those duties for a permanent raise, what do you add the next year? Where does it end? If I work for your family for 5 years, will I need to be doing child care, family laundry, cooking all dinners, running all errands, cleaning the whole house, and wiping your butts in order to go "above and beyond"? Seriously, when is enough enough?

If the job duties already include many chores beyond basic child-watching, you can still go above and beyond by (a) ensuring that you are upbeat and smiling each day, so the MB doesn't have to spend time wondering what your moodiness means, (b) by being proactive and diligent, so the MB never has to remind you to complete agreed upon tasks, (c) by taking sick days only when truly needed (especially if there is no carryover, I do think unused sick time should be reflected in a bonus), (d) by not nickel and diming the family about every little thing that might strike the nanny as burden (like travel when you aren't working extra hours or sleeping over the family's house to ensure on time arrival on a snow day), (e) by offering to help find backup care when you are taking vacation, (f) by offering to help research and complete applications for preschools or camps or enrichment classes, (g) by offering to help the family manage kid photos or download home videos to a storage medium, (h) by emailing photos of your week with the kids to the parents and grandparents or by offering to start a blog about the kids for enjoyment of the parents and grandparents (password protected, of course), (i) by using your own money to buy the children inexpensive little surprises here and there because you saw something they'd love while out and about. Going above and beyond does not necessarily mean adding new tasks, it can also mean completing the basic job better or with a little extra demonstrated love for the kids.

Wow. Reviewing this list makes me realize how fabulous my nanny is and how deserving she is of a bonus.

Okay thank you for giving concrete examples. In my mind all of those things are simply doing your job WELL, which a lot of MBs have said is not enough. It just makes you wonder what in the world you all expect. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

My nanny works her a** off for us. As my husband and I( gay couple) adopted a 2 month old, she took charge.

Besides her normal duties she

- Make all his food homemade every week for freshness
- Calls on her own time to see if we need any food while she is out
- Leaves are home spotless( not just baby care)
- Makes or preps dinner for us a few nights a week
- She shops for all my sons food. Even goes to the Farmer's Market to pick up produce for him. Sometimes for us too!
- She is very active with Benji. Takes his to 3 classes a week, very engaging at home, etc.
- She has come in early and stayed late at the drop of a hat.
- Twice she has come in on a weekend and stayed with him because we had to go out of town( we own our own businesses)

This on top of her FT coursework. She is incredible and out son loves her. She is definitely the " motherly touch" we couldn't give him. We have only had her for 7 months but will continue for as long as possible. We are giving her 2 wks paid vacation, 1.5wks pay, holiday treats, and a spa day.

[Anonymous]

I take nanny and baby when traveling quite often, and the nanny always seeks out fun things to do rather than camping out in the hotel room with tv. She finds cool playgrounds, toy stores, child-friendly restaurants, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

From what I've seen, the most successful relationships are mutually respectful, and everyone goes "above and beyond" to the best of their abilities.

+1. Could not agree more.

Some MB's really can be amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, your post rubs me the wrong way. If you get a bonus at work, I'm sure we'd love to hear about how you went above and beyond any job description to earn it.

+1 Do Tell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My nanny works her a** off for us. As my husband and I( gay couple) adopted a 2 month old, she took charge.

Besides her normal duties she

- Make all his food homemade every week for freshness
- Calls on her own time to see if we need any food while she is out
- Leaves are home spotless( not just baby care)
- Makes or preps dinner for us a few nights a week
- She shops for all my sons food. Even goes to the Farmer's Market to pick up produce for him. Sometimes for us too!
- She is very active with Benji. Takes his to 3 classes a week, very engaging at home, etc.
- She has come in early and stayed late at the drop of a hat.
- Twice she has come in on a weekend and stayed with him because we had to go out of town( we own our own businesses)

This on top of her FT coursework. She is incredible and out son loves her. She is definitely the " motherly touch" we couldn't give him. We have only had her for 7 months but will continue for as long as possible. We are giving her 2 wks paid vacation, 1.5wks pay, holiday treats, and a spa day.

Five Stars For Your Nanny

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My nanny works her a** off for us. As my husband and I( gay couple) adopted a 2 month old, she took charge.

Besides her normal duties she

- Make all his food homemade every week for freshness
- Calls on her own time to see if we need any food while she is out
- Leaves are home spotless( not just baby care)
- Makes or preps dinner for us a few nights a week
- She shops for all my sons food. Even goes to the Farmer's Market to pick up produce for him. Sometimes for us too!
- She is very active with Benji. Takes his to 3 classes a week, very engaging at home, etc.
- She has come in early and stayed late at the drop of a hat.
- Twice she has come in on a weekend and stayed with him because we had to go out of town( we own our own businesses)

This on top of her FT coursework. She is incredible and out son loves her. She is definitely the " motherly touch" we couldn't give him. We have only had her for 7 months but will continue for as long as possible. We are giving her 2 wks paid vacation, 1.5wks pay, holiday treats, and a spa day.

Five Stars For Your Nanny

+1. She sounds terrific! Now there's a nanny that deserves a generous bonus!

[Anonymous]

when I come home, i find my triplets bathed, clean, fed, safe and happy. I don't really care if the house doesn't look as tidy as it should. When I am home with them, I can't do it all so I'd not expect her to. T If I could I'd double (or triple) her salary, but I can't. So she gets a modest bonus and a thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[Anonymous]

"What have you done to deserve a bonus?"

ask your husband!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"What have you done to deserve a bonus?"

ask your husband!

Love the sarcasm... (is it? )

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:when I come home, i find my triplets bathed, clean, fed, safe and happy. I don't really care if the house doesn't look as tidy as it should. When I am home with them, I can't do it all so I'd not expect her to. T If I could I'd double (or triple) her salary, but I can't. So she gets a modest bonus and a thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You sound like the kind of parent
every nanny would love to help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:when I come home, i find my triplets bathed, clean, fed, safe and happy. I don't really care if the house doesn't look as tidy as it should. When I am home with them, I can't do it all so I'd not expect her to. T If I could I'd double (or triple) her salary, but I can't. So she gets a modest bonus and a thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You sound like the kind of parent
every nanny would love to help.

[phone]...The OP could learn a lot from her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:when I come home, i find my triplets bathed, clean, fed, safe and happy. I don't really care if the house doesn't look as tidy as it should. When I am home with them, I can't do it all so I'd not expect her to. T If I could I'd double (or triple) her salary, but I can't. So she gets a modest bonus and a thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You sound like the kind of parent
every nanny would love to help.

[phone]...The OP could learn a lot from her.

Exactly!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:when I come home, i find my triplets bathed, clean, fed, safe and happy. I don't really care if the house doesn't look as tidy as it should. When I am home with them, I can't do it all so I'd not expect her to. T If I could I'd double (or triple) her salary, but I can't. So she gets a modest bonus and a thank you from the bottom of my heart.

+1 To care for triplets is an enormous task. I can't imagine anyone expecting a nanny to keep the place clean on top of that.

[Anonymous]

Our nanny is wonderful. She's been with us almost 6 months now and cares for our 8 month old triplets.

Besides taking excellent care of the babies, she does extra things that we never asked her to do, but are so helpful and appreciated.

Some examples-

She makes all their baby food from scratch and leaves their meals all prepared/labeled in the fridge over the weekend.

She keeps all of their supplies stocked at all times. I've never run out of diapers or had an empty wipe container since she started.

She makes all their bottles for the day and leaves them in the fridge as well.

She never leaves a dirty bottle for us to clean. She always washes and sterilizes the last 3 bedtime bottles before leaving.

She empties the diaper genie every single day.

She researches activities for the babies and takes them on outings to things like library story time every day.

She's very flexible and has come in early and stayed late whenever we have asked her. She's also worked on a weekend when we were in a bind.

We are so happy to have her and plan on giving her a very generous bonus.