A bonus vent-ish

[Anonymous]

Please please take out a loan so you can give your $30-40k a year nanny a huge bonus Christmas gift! Bigger than any gift you've ever given before!


Seriously, just give her $200 and a couple extra days off in the summer, in writing. We did that early on and things have been fine the two+ years following.

[Anonymous]

OP, want some good advice? Go to BabyCenter. Just kidding In all seriousness, smart experienced nannies understand how hard it is to find quality child care in any area that has a high cost of living (we figure out how to live there). Not critiquing you but just trying to school you-for whatever reason, you've chosen the most expensive type of child care. That is your choice. Since you've made that willing choice, you need to figure and factor how much that will cost you in the long term. Whining about bonus standards while attesting to your nanny's attributes makes you sound spoiled. It is what it is. Take care of a good nanny if you can. Look into (and don't be so choosy) other child care options if you can't. PS google Janis Joplin Mercedes Benz.It might help you recognize.

[Anonymous]

OP- Honestly just give what you can afford. You give other benefits that are not always given. I wouldn't over think it too much. Next year budget for a higher bonus if you can.

[Anonymous]

So, what we all wanna know now is : how much dough will you give her ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Well, when we hired a nanny I really didn't know I should be saving this much for a bonus.

I guess what we should do is give her the bonus (so, the hourly rate x 40 which is $500+).

I'm not sure "giving her a reason to stay" and "being honest with myself" I mean, I know our finances - I handle them. We don't take vacations, we don't eat out, we don't have cable or high cell phone bills. We offer her per her contract lots of leave, lots of money for health care (we pay all of it), lots of petty cash and meals and she has explicit "no housework" duties. It's just a lot of money at one time.

I emailed with my spouse and think we're just going to bite it and give her what is recommended on here and forego any Christmas gifts for family. It's not a big deal, and hopefully next year, if she wants to stay, we'll be better situated for a bonus and a raise.

we pay our nanny $18 an hour (for just our child, for share hours, it's $26). 4 weeks vacation, including days that can carry over and be paid out if she quits with proper notice. Do you really think that's lacking??

OP,

I feel your pain. We ended up finding our nanny before I returned to work unexpectedly. Before we met her we had planned to use my daycare at work. We didn't know when we'd get off the waiting list and it turned out that we got a call about 2 months after we hired our nanny full time but we really liked her and made a commitment to her. 3 years later we are really feeling the pinch financially as older one is in PT preschool and younger one is still an infant.

We do give one week's pay which isn't as painful as the entire cost. We've been offered the opportunity to get both kids into my daycare at work (youngest is in/older one will get in before the year end) but we're really struggling with the decision. We may just hold on at least youngest one is older and ready for preschool.

I can't believe you are paying $18 pre-tax in a nanny share for 1 kid though. That sounds pretty high.

signed,
MB in Arlington

[Anonymous]

Complete troll.
18 for a share?
Bullshit

[Anonymous]

Nanny here OP, been with this family for many years now; my first year I got hired I didn't get a bonus (started March), of course I felt sad about it, but never considered leaving. The following year they gave me $200, but the third was a week's pay, the fourth, and the fifth. With that said OP, give what you can afford, most nannies will be happy getting something for the holidays. In life "norm" doesn't really exists. Merry Christmas to you and your family.