Can I ask my nanny to handle housekeeping?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Sure they can be cooks, grocery shoppers, etc. There is no rule that says they cannot do this. I agree that a nanny's primary job is child care, but many many families hire nannies to make their lives easier. This would include running occasional errands during the day, emptying the dishwasher, sweeping the kitchen floor, chopping vegetables for dinner. Different families have different needs and offer different pay and incentives. Nanny applicants can pick and choose which jobs appeal to them--we had one nanny who loved to cook and sought out those jobs--and apply accordingly.

Different nanny jobs also come with different degrees of downtime. One person may have no downtime (so for that job, no duties beyond childcare would be appropriate), another may have several hours while a child is napping or in preschool. Families will structure the requirements for those jobs accordingly, as they should. If my nanny has 3 hours of downtime every day I am not paying her thousands of dollars a year to play on her phone during that entire time. Yes, a break is important and she should get one. But a three-hour break--sorry, but no.

[Anonymous]

I hired a 'nanny only' because I already had a housekeeper. I also wanted the entire focus to be on my infant and not on cleaning my house. I think one needs dedicated alone time to clean a house. When I found myself at home with my toddlers/young children, I couldn't find the time to clean my house on top of caring for them and I NEEDED a break during nap time. I think the dual role would be difficult unless the kids were in school. There are lots of entitled employers and what they don't realize is many nannies burn out from doing too much. I don't want a stressed nanny taking care of my children.

[Anonymous]

It's truly exhausting to do both. While the kids are in school I would deep clean the house (or do as much as I could after taking the time to tidy up and put things away before getting to the cleaning), then by the time I pick up the kids from school, I'm already exhausted! Parents, I would recommend hiring two separate people so you can have two different jobs professionally done right!

[Anonymous]

American women are the laziest people on earth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not accept any position that involved general housekeeping or cooking for anyone but my charge. I do unload the entire dishwasher and not just my charge's items because so am not a dick but generally the lines are clear.

You want your nanny to narrate for your baby, read to him/her for at least one hour over the course of the day, do finger rhymes, sing and take the baby outside for good walks. Soon you will want her to take the baby to classes and library storytimes. There simply isn't time to accomplish your tasks when the baby is asleep. A nanny should do all the child's laundry, clean play area and sterilize toys, make fresh baby food and all clean up, keep the baby's closet neat and up to date - all outgrown clothes packed away. And every five hours, a nanny is entitled to a twenty minute break.

I've been a nanny for five years, and I have NEVER had a 20 minute break while working. Never. Perhaps that's the difference between nannies who care for one child at a time starting as infants and nannies who only care for 2+?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1 Don't be bullied by the nannies who want you to think you're asking the impossible. The kind of person who would be a good long-term nanny will be willing to pitch in, especially re: all baby related tasks (laundry, cleaning baby's room, bottles, etc) and some simple general household things like putting stuff away, accepting deliveries, loading/unloading the dishwasher. Do be flexible and be clear about what your priorities are, if the nanny can't do everything on a particular day (e.g. sick baby, or nanny didn't sleep well). Understand that household related things are more obvious accomplishments than time well spent with baby but both are doable and your pay package is very generous so you have a right to expect a lot.

[Anonymous]

The answers here are ridiculous. I have never had a nanny who had a problem emptying the dishwasher. They ALL did this, as do all of my friend's nannies. The nannies posting on here are an extreme group. In real life, outside of DCUM, most nannies do basic housekeeping in common areas (I'm not talking about cleaning bathrooms, parents rooms).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hired a 'nanny only' because I already had a housekeeper. I also wanted the entire focus to be on my infant and not on cleaning my house. I think one needs dedicated alone time to clean a house. When I found myself at home with my toddlers/young children, I couldn't find the time to clean my house on top of caring for them and I NEEDED a break during nap time. I think the dual role would be difficult unless the kids were in school. There are lots of entitled employers and what they don't realize is many nannies burn out from doing too much. I don't want a stressed nanny taking care of my children.

This is a good point and many parents fail to understand this.

-Nanny with 10 years experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's truly exhausting to do both. While the kids are in school I would deep clean the house (or do as much as I could after taking the time to tidy up and put things away before getting to the cleaning), then by the time I pick up the kids from school, I'm already exhausted! Parents, I would recommend hiring two separate people so you can have two different jobs professionally done right!

+ 1000

Working as a nanny IS a stressful job, as nannies often work in isolation, take on tasks FAR outside the typical job description, and struggle to maintain a healthy nanny/family relationship. Burnout is common, and is harmful to both the nanny and the family she works for. THIS IS WHAT PARENTS NEED TO UNDERSTAND. Do you really want someone stressed out taking care of your child? It's easy to fake stress because nannies do not spend all day with you.

[Anonymous]

I find the PP’s comment that a Nanny who provides childcare ONLY is an EXTREME Nanny.

????

Isn’t that what a Nanny IS??!
So if a Nanny does not do any laundry or unload any dishes from the dishwasher, then she is an Extremist?

This is such a weird, goofy comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find the PP’s comment that a Nanny who provides childcare ONLY is an EXTREME Nanny.

????

Isn’t that what a Nanny IS??!
So if a Nanny does not do any laundry or unload any dishes from the dishwasher, then she is an Extremist?

This is such a weird, goofy comment.

Your post doesn't make sense. She's saying adding on lots of chores can create stress. I think this is something employer's overlook. Many nannies will not speak up about stress and they stay in this field because it's easy money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:American women are the laziest people on earth.

I think you mean American nannies.

[Anonymous]

The problem is people who still don't understand what a nanny is. Hint: She is not your servant.

[Anonymous]

Nannies ARE employees who serve and perform various tasks by mutual agreement. Rather than get hung up on titles since this person is yet to be hired, just specify what you want done and call it a Nanny Plus+. Since you have a Housekeeper, the non-child care bits can't be that significant. Just be clear on the priorities because house stuff not done is more obvious than a child being neglected. Also, as pointed out before, nannies who won't do de minimis tasks like unloading the dishwasher are bound to be a PITA to deal with. I would mention the household stuff and see what kind of vibe you get. It might be a good way to weed out inflexible candidates who will give you grief over many things, not just housekeeping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:American women are the laziest people on earth.

I think you mean American nannies.

No. I mean American.women who hire nannies. You're one of them! Lazy, good for nothing parents. Palming off care for their children and all household chores on underpaid, over worked, frequently undocumented childcare givers.

Childcare workers should form a union.