Can I ask my nanny to handle housekeeping?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nannies on here are crazy and so entitled. OP, what you are looking for is very reasonable and you are being upfront. You are also offering generous pay and benefits. If a nanny doesn't want to do these tasks then they won't apply. Do not scale back what you're asking for and make sure you don't end up with a nanny who takes advantage of your generosity. We've been there.

+1 and I'm a nanny

Does your boss ask you to cook dinner? Do you get a break during the day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most nannies don’t mind helping out with these tasks. Helping out being the operative phrase; don’t leave her tons of dishes leftover from the weekend or pile up kids clothes because you’re lazy. I do these things as part of my job but I deeply resent having to clean messes I had nothing to do with making.

Op here. I will scrap everything except receiving packages because we want our child to be the main focus. We don’t want any nanny to feel like we are taking advantage of her. Btw, I already mentioned that we have a weekly housekeeper and we are very clean people.

OP, you are offering a very generous rate and you will have literally a line of applicants who will be willing to do your very limited list of chores. Don't listen to diva nannies here. If you have a healthy infant, it's the easiest nanny job there is. The baby isn't mobile and sleeps a lot. And it will be QUITE some time before the baby is ready for storytimes or classes (ridiculous).

Please also don't imagine that anyone narrates or sings to the baby continuously without breaks. Such intense focus simply isn't good for infants who can overstimulated very easily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most nannies don’t mind helping out with these tasks. Helping out being the operative phrase; don’t leave her tons of dishes leftover from the weekend or pile up kids clothes because you’re lazy. I do these things as part of my job but I deeply resent having to clean messes I had nothing to do with making.

Op here. I will scrap everything except receiving packages because we want our child to be the main focus. We don’t want any nanny to feel like we are taking advantage of her. Btw, I already mentioned that we have a weekly housekeeper and we are very clean people.

OP, you are offering a very generous rate and you will have literally a line of applicants who will be willing to do your very limited list of chores. Don't listen to diva nannies here. If you have a healthy infant, it's the easiest nanny job there is. The baby isn't mobile and sleeps a lot. And it will be QUITE some time before the baby is ready for storytimes or classes (ridiculous).

Please also don't imagine that anyone narrates or sings to the baby continuously without breaks. Such intense focus simply isn't good for infants who can overstimulated very easily.

Total nonsense! Babies are not over-stimulated by their caregiver speaking to them and describing what she is doing! This is how babies learn the concept of language.
Our nanny is not a "diva" - she is a true teacher. And, trust me, narrating is exhausting! By the end of a weekend doing what our nanny does every day has me begging for a nap! Washing the floor is easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents just like stretching their dollar to the max!!

They assume that since the Nanny is already in the home, that she might as well unload the dishwasher, do the laundry, take out the trash as well as feed Fido.

What these parents do not realize is that by adding household chores, attention is taken away from their precious child.
Even if it is only 1%, that is time that is focused on something else....Not your child.

I hate being distracted by chores.
I hate even using the word since it reminds me of being a child myself ironically.

I hate stressing about making sure I get the laundry finished or the dishes put away before my bosses get home.

What do you think stay at home moms do? Do you not think they empty the dishwasher during the day? Most kids could stand to not be focused on 1% of the day. Also, they sleep.

Stay at home moms have 16 hours to get things done and usually a partner who helps them. Absolutely no comparison to a nanny. Plus it is the stay at home moms house, dirty laundry, dishes, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most nannies don’t mind helping out with these tasks. Helping out being the operative phrase; don’t leave her tons of dishes leftover from the weekend or pile up kids clothes because you’re lazy. I do these things as part of my job but I deeply resent having to clean messes I had nothing to do with making.

Op here. I will scrap everything except receiving packages because we want our child to be the main focus. We don’t want any nanny to feel like we are taking advantage of her. Btw, I already mentioned that we have a weekly housekeeper and we are very clean people.

You can get a nanny with a degree in Early Childhood Education and teaching experience, OP. These are the most vital years of your child's life. Our nanny was a preschool teacher, has a college degree and narrated, signed, sang and read to my DD. Because of nanny, DD is about a year ahead of her peers verbally and has an amazing imagination. When you see what a great nanny can do, you will never worry about who unloads the dishwasher.

[Anonymous]

How are people comparing SAHMs to Nannies??!!

Talk about oranges to apples here.

A Nanny is a paid JOB.
Her duty lies within her charge.

Assuring her charge is fed, in a clean diaper (if required), well-rested, clean, engaged, safe, entertained, educated + properly socialized....
Isn’t that enough for you?

Why feel the need to assign “chores” a.k.a. household tasks on top of all that.
I mean 50-60% of childcare already includes cleaning up their messes, etc.

Why add more?
A happy & loved child who is very content in the company of their loving Nanny should be way more than enough!

[Anonymous]

Household Duties = Chores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most nannies don’t mind helping out with these tasks. Helping out being the operative phrase; don’t leave her tons of dishes leftover from the weekend or pile up kids clothes because you’re lazy. I do these things as part of my job but I deeply resent having to clean messes I had nothing to do with making.

Op here. I will scrap everything except receiving packages because we want our child to be the main focus. We don’t want any nanny to feel like we are taking advantage of her. Btw, I already mentioned that we have a weekly housekeeper and we are very clean people.

OP, you are offering a very generous rate and you will have literally a line of applicants who will be willing to do your very limited list of chores. Don't listen to diva nannies here. If you have a healthy infant, it's the easiest nanny job there is. The baby isn't mobile and sleeps a lot. And it will be QUITE some time before the baby is ready for storytimes or classes (ridiculous).

Please also don't imagine that anyone narrates or sings to the baby continuously without breaks. Such intense focus simply isn't good for infants who can overstimulated very easily.

Total nonsense! Babies are not over-stimulated by their caregiver speaking to them and describing what she is doing! This is how babies learn the concept of language.
Our nanny is not a "diva" - she is a true teacher. And, trust me, narrating is exhausting! By the end of a weekend doing what our nanny does every day has me begging for a nap! Washing the floor is easier.

I don't question that it's exhausting, I simply don't believe that it has to be done nonstop every single second of your baby's waking hours. And there is no reason your nanny cannot narrate how she empties the dishwasher. If you are that focused on narrating..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some parents just like stretching their dollar to the max!!

They assume that since the Nanny is already in the home, that she might as well unload the dishwasher, do the laundry, take out the trash as well as feed Fido.

What these parents do not realize is that by adding household chores, attention is taken away from their precious child.
Even if it is only 1%, that is time that is focused on something else....Not your child.

I hate being distracted by chores.
I hate even using the word since it reminds me of being a child myself ironically.

I hate stressing about making sure I get the laundry finished or the dishes put away before my bosses get home.

This would be reasonable except many nannies who don't want to be "distracted" by chores will prefer to be "distracted" by their phone or their own errands instead. And then claim it does no harm for the child to have to learn independent play while their nanny texts or runs to the grocery store.

OP, sounds like you are taking off virtually all household tasks from your list to have your nanny focus on the child. I don't think it's absolutely necessary to get top-notch care, but you make the right decision for your family. And know you should be able to hold the nanny to very high childcare standards as you are both compensating well and asking for almost no other duties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents just like stretching their dollar to the max!!

They assume that since the Nanny is already in the home, that she might as well unload the dishwasher, do the laundry, take out the trash as well as feed Fido.

What these parents do not realize is that by adding household chores, attention is taken away from their precious child.
Even if it is only 1%, that is time that is focused on something else....Not your child.

I hate being distracted by chores.
I hate even using the word since it reminds me of being a child myself ironically.

I hate stressing about making sure I get the laundry finished or the dishes put away before my bosses get home.

This would be reasonable except many nannies who don't want to be "distracted" by chores will prefer to be "distracted" by their phone or their own errands instead. And then claim it does no harm for the child to have to learn independent play while their nanny texts or runs to the grocery store.

OP, sounds like you are taking off virtually all household tasks from your list to have your nanny focus on the child. I don't think it's absolutely necessary to get top-notch care, but you make the right decision for your family. And know you should be able to hold the nanny to very high childcare standards as you are both compensating well and asking for almost no other duties.

You are so full of bitter sh*t, PP. If you have a nanny with a phone issue you hired the wrong nanny. OP is paying okay - $25 an hour is par for a nanny with a degree but nothing special. The nanny should take care of everything related to the baby - baby's laundry, cooking for the baby, etc. and nothing more.

[Anonymous]

New moms often think that babies are easy and that nannies have a lot of down time. They think they need to give their employees a list of chores to keep them busy. “I’m not paying her to sit all day”—an unpleasant refrain we’ve heard too many times. Let me assure you as the mother of a colicky baby, all babies are not easy, and there isn’t always a big block in the day with nothing to do. Remember, if a nanny is vacuuming she may not hear crying. If she has a list of domestic chores to do, she will not be spending that time with the baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nannies on here are crazy and so entitled. OP, what you are looking for is very reasonable and you are being upfront. You are also offering generous pay and benefits. If a nanny doesn't want to do these tasks then they won't apply. Do not scale back what you're asking for and make sure you don't end up with a nanny who takes advantage of your generosity. We've been there.

+1 and I'm a nanny

Does your boss ask you to cook dinner? Do you get a break during the day?

Not the PP, but... I work a job where I've been hired for my skills in financial analysis, writing reports, giving presentations, etc. But there is a good 15-30 min a day spent on "secretarial" type tasks like making travel arrangements, photocopying documents, doing expense reports, and scheduling meetings which don't exactly require an MBA and fall outside my main job description. We have administrative assistants who do the bulk of such work, but they (a) only work 9-5 and can't always cover last-minute evening requests and (b) don't travel with us on business trips. I think this is somewhat analogous to nanny duties vs. housekeeper or personal assistant duties. Yeah, if it became 20% or more of my job, I'd feel unhappy as it'd be scope creep and not what I was hired for or good at, but under 5%, no other person around to do the task, and it keeps things running smoothly? Then yes of course I do them.

As for breaks, a lot of professionals don't have predictable schedules every day. If they need to be in a lot of meetings or it's a hectic time of year, they may have to skip lunch or eat at 3pm at their desk while working. This happens to me and my coworkers pretty regularly, and it's not because we work for a crappy employer. We do work with other companies frequently as part of our job, and I see this often being the case for employees of those companies as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents just like stretching their dollar to the max!!

They assume that since the Nanny is already in the home, that she might as well unload the dishwasher, do the laundry, take out the trash as well as feed Fido.

What these parents do not realize is that by adding household chores, attention is taken away from their precious child.
Even if it is only 1%, that is time that is focused on something else....Not your child.

I hate being distracted by chores.
I hate even using the word since it reminds me of being a child myself ironically.

I hate stressing about making sure I get the laundry finished or the dishes put away before my bosses get home.

This would be reasonable except many nannies who don't want to be "distracted" by chores will prefer to be "distracted" by their phone or their own errands instead. And then claim it does no harm for the child to have to learn independent play while their nanny texts or runs to the grocery store.

OP, sounds like you are taking off virtually all household tasks from your list to have your nanny focus on the child. I don't think it's absolutely necessary to get top-notch care, but you make the right decision for your family. And know you should be able to hold the nanny to very high childcare standards as you are both compensating well and asking for almost no other duties.

You are so full of bitter sh*t, PP. If you have a nanny with a phone issue you hired the wrong nanny. OP is paying okay - $25 an hour is par for a nanny with a degree but nothing special. The nanny should take care of everything related to the baby - baby's laundry, cooking for the baby, etc. and nothing more.

Nope, not bitter at all... just at a loss to explain how my nanny is able to do such a great job teaching and caring for my child while she's awake and also find 5 minutes to take out the trash when she's asleep. According to a lot of posters on this forum, that shouldn't be possible!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New moms often think that babies are easy and that nannies have a lot of down time. They think they need to give their employees a list of chores to keep them busy. “I’m not paying her to sit all day”—an unpleasant refrain we’ve heard too many times. Let me assure you as the mother of a colicky baby, all babies are not easy, and there isn’t always a big block in the day with nothing to do. Remember, if a nanny is vacuuming she may not hear crying. If she has a list of domestic chores to do, she will not be spending that time with the baby.

Let me assure you as the mother of three non-colicky babies that taking care of a healthy newborn is the easiest job in the world. They are only awake for half an hour at a time, they sleep a ton, and they are happy with very little.

It's nonsense that you don't hear crying if you're vacuuming.

Also, colic, if it happens, doesn't really last past three or four months.

[Anonymous]

Lol some of these responses are so ridiculous! I was a nanny to a toddler who took only a 2.5 hours nap per day and let me tell you what my duties were! Park outings, 1 music classe per week, 2 story time per week; play date at least once per week; I read and dance with him; we play hide and seek; pool outing; I taught him French; we shop groceries together; I cooked his meals and prep for parents; also cleaned family condo every Friday afternoon; cleaned toys; bathed him did his laundry; took out trash and more. And yes I am a college educated person and agreed to do all this job. What the OP is asking can definitely be done by the nanny. Very tired of these nannies claiming they are educated and can’t work like this or that because of it. If you feel that way then get a job in corporate America then nanny isn’t for you!