Can I ask my nanny to handle housekeeping?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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!

You cleaned the family condo once a week?! Now that you are in corporate America do you also wash your boss' car?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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!

You cleaned the family condo once a week?! Now that you are in corporate America do you also wash your boss' car?

You went to college and can't form coherent sentences? Interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Easy for you to say. You're not a nanny.

[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.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1

+2

[Anonymous]

But why should a Nanny be assigned “chores??!”

She is there to provide loving care for your child.

Not to do chores like she is a child or servant of some type.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But why should a Nanny be assigned “chores??!”

She is there to provide loving care for your child.

Not to do chores like she is a child or servant of some type.

Exactly. Most Americans have little or no understanding of what a nanny is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Easy for you to say. You're not a nanny.

??? Of course it's easier for me to say what corporate jobs entail if I'm not a nanny...
Your point seemed to be that corporate jobs wouldn't ask you to step outside your job description and you'd have set breaks. I'm providing examples of how people actually are expected to be a bit flexible in other ways that make sense for whatever the job is. And my point is also specifically that the flexibility required should not be excessive. This whole thread has been asking about a very limited scope of tasks and it is actually mostly nannies who have jumped in saying they do way more than that.

[Anonymous]

OP, your original job list is fine and you will have good candidates responding to your ad. If you think about it, you probably DON'T want to hire the person who will absolutely not pitch in on simple household stuff, as that person often ends up being pretty lazy, frankly. Anyone who can't empty a dishwasher as part of a job is just a bit too crazy-entitled. I'm a professional in a white collar industry and guess what - we all pitch in to do tasks that aren't specific to our area of expertise. My subject matter expertise doesn't mean I'm no longer capable of making copies, setting up catering for a meeting, emptying the recycling bin, or cleaning up after an event.

If you do start out with an extremely limited job scope and ever wish to add something to it, it will be MUCH harder to go that direction. You can always take off duties if you find the nanny is unable to care for your child because of the immense burden of emptying the dishwasher.

Seriously though, your original description is FINE. Stick with it. It's what you need and you most certainly can find quality candidates willing to do all that and more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But why should a Nanny be assigned “chores??!”

She is there to provide loving care for your child.

Not to do chores like she is a child or servant of some type.

Exactly. Most Americans have little or no understanding of what a nanny is.

Yet here you are, working in America, the land of ignorant employers. Why not go to where EVERYONE understands what a nanny is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking to hire a nanny for our infant. We need a nanny 3 days a week for 33 hours. We will be offering $23 hour net, 4 weeks paid vacation, 5 paid sick days, paid holidays, guaranteed hours, and a stipend for health insurance. We expect the nanny to handle baby housekeeping but also want her to handle emptying the dishwasher, receiving groceries and packages, and throwing a recipe in the crock pot 1-2 times a week. Is it unreasonable to ask?

Nannies are people who take care of children. They are not cooks, grocery shoppers, maids or housekeepers. How would you feel if your boss asked you to clean his private bathroom, wash his gym clothes, or cook his lunch? You would have a fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But why should a Nanny be assigned “chores??!”

She is there to provide loving care for your child.

Not to do chores like she is a child or servant of some type.

Exactly. Most Americans have little or no understanding of what a nanny is.

Yet here you are, working in America, the land of ignorant employers. Why not go to where EVERYONE understands what a nanny is?

Listen to 11:38, my friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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!

You cleaned the family condo once a week?! Now that you are in corporate America do you also wash your boss' car?

You went to college and can't form coherent sentences? Interesting.

Yes I don’t need to form coherent sentences to make it in life and I cleaned the condo because I wanted to and needed extra money. Today my own condo is paid for and second home almost paid for. NO DEBT!!! No need to go to work but I want to. Heck I can even pay someone to clean my own home!!!! Thank you very much and keep your big English for yourself. I wasn’t born in USA just arrived not long ago and will be fine. Kiakiakia!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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!

You cleaned the family condo once a week?! Now that you are in corporate America do you also wash your boss' car?

You went to college and can't form coherent sentences? Interesting.

Yes I don’t need to form coherent sentences to make it in life and I cleaned the condo because I wanted to and needed extra money. Today my own condo is paid for and second home almost paid for. NO DEBT!!! No need to go to work but I want to. Heck I can even pay someone to clean my own home!!!! Thank you very much and keep your big English for yourself. I wasn’t born in USA just arrived not long ago and will be fine. Kiakiakia!!!!

You're full of crap.

[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?

If a job was advertised that required cooking dinner daily, and I did not want to do that, I would not apply. It's pretty simple. Some days I get a break and some days I don't.