Big Law attorney turned.... nanny?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I definitely would NOT do this if it's for 200-300/week. I was thinking closer to $15/hour ($3000/mo for full time). That would be enough extra cash to continue finish paying down my student loans and have some breathing room in our budget.

I can look into the adjunct thing. I really don't want to do legal work on the side.

My ideal would be to find someone who has an older child who goes to my DD's school and a baby who needs care, so that they'd be on the same schedule as us and live/commute to our area.

Wow. So, you have no recent experience, you have no relevant education, and you want to care for your own child as well, but you want to be paid more than someone else with the same credentials and situation, just because you have a law degree?

[Anonymous]

I made $2K-$5K a month watching dogs through Rover.com. Even more during months with holidays. It took a little while to get to that point (and I'm sure there will be people who don't want to leave their dogs with someone with little children), but it's a way to bring in some extra money while maintaining a VERY flexible schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd probably hire you for close to $15/hour. It wouldn't bother me that the care is at your house or that your other kids are around. If it turns out that my child's development is at the determent of your family set up, I'd reconsider. But, I'd give it a chance.

This is coming from a mom of an 18 month old currently at a daycare center.

Out of curiosity, what about this situation would be attractive to you?
Does your child's day care center close two weeks out of the year that you still pay for (since it's standard to give a nanny two weeks paid vacation?). What about when the teacher gets sick, do you need to scramble for back up care or does the center handle that?

How much is the tuition at the daycare center? At $15/hr, OP would be getting $600 for a 40 hour work week. Plus overtime at time and a half--so even just 45 hours would be $712/week. As her employer, you'd also be responsible for withholding taxes and paying "nanny taxes" (social security, Medicare, etc.). This could easily add up to nearly $800/week. And you are still the one getting your child out of the house each day, the extra stop before and after work, etc.

My child's daycare closed two weeks a year that we still had to pay for. One over Christmas, and one at the end of the summer. And while the daycare didn't close due to sickness, I was never allowed to bring in my child when he was sick, which was all.the.time. And to be in a nice daycare where they didn't leave the kids in swings and bouncy seats all day and had a dark room for naps was $1500/mo. And this was in Ohio. I can't imagine what it is in DC.

[Anonymous]

$15/hour is a lot for what is essentially a nanny share. I would recalibrate your expectations. I think if the drop off/pick up was VERY convenient, you will find someone interested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd probably hire you for close to $15/hour. It wouldn't bother me that the care is at your house or that your other kids are around. If it turns out that my child's development is at the determent of your family set up, I'd reconsider. But, I'd give it a chance.

This is coming from a mom of an 18 month old currently at a daycare center.

Out of curiosity, what about this situation would be attractive to you?
Does your child's day care center close two weeks out of the year that you still pay for (since it's standard to give a nanny two weeks paid vacation?). What about when the teacher gets sick, do you need to scramble for back up care or does the center handle that?

How much is the tuition at the daycare center? At $15/hr, OP would be getting $600 for a 40 hour work week. Plus overtime at time and a half--so even just 45 hours would be $712/week. As her employer, you'd also be responsible for withholding taxes and paying "nanny taxes" (social security, Medicare, etc.). This could easily add up to nearly $800/week. And you are still the one getting your child out of the house each day, the extra stop before and after work, etc.

My child's daycare closed two weeks a year that we still had to pay for. One over Christmas, and one at the end of the summer. And while the daycare didn't close due to sickness, I was never allowed to bring in my child when he was sick, which was all.the.time. And to be in a nice daycare where they didn't leave the kids in swings and bouncy seats all day and had a dark room for naps was $1500/mo. And this was in Ohio. I can't imagine what it is in DC.

Daycares in DC do not close for weeks at a time. That is the point of them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd probably hire you for close to $15/hour. It wouldn't bother me that the care is at your house or that your other kids are around. If it turns out that my child's development is at the determent of your family set up, I'd reconsider. But, I'd give it a chance.

This is coming from a mom of an 18 month old currently at a daycare center.

Out of curiosity, what about this situation would be attractive to you?
Does your child's day care center close two weeks out of the year that you still pay for (since it's standard to give a nanny two weeks paid vacation?). What about when the teacher gets sick, do you need to scramble for back up care or does the center handle that?

How much is the tuition at the daycare center? At $15/hr, OP would be getting $600 for a 40 hour work week. Plus overtime at time and a half--so even just 45 hours would be $712/week. As her employer, you'd also be responsible for withholding taxes and paying "nanny taxes" (social security, Medicare, etc.). This could easily add up to nearly $800/week. And you are still the one getting your child out of the house each day, the extra stop before and after work, etc.

My child's daycare closed two weeks a year that we still had to pay for. One over Christmas, and one at the end of the summer. And while the daycare didn't close due to sickness, I was never allowed to bring in my child when he was sick, which was all.the.time. And to be in a nice daycare where they didn't leave the kids in swings and bouncy seats all day and had a dark room for naps was $1500/mo. And this was in Ohio. I can't imagine what it is in DC.

Daycares in DC do not close for weeks at a time. That is the point of them!

+1
I've never heard of big center day cares closing for a week. I've heard of home day cares doing that--but usually at a home day care you are only paying $250-300/week, or even less. OP's desired salary would be more in the $800/week or more

[Anonymous]

I still can't believe OP is leaving law to be a $10-$15/hr nanny. Unfathomable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still can't believe OP is leaving law to be a $10-$15/hr nanny. Unfathomable.

She is leaving law to do something more fulfilling (for her) with her life (staying at home with her kids). Sometimes happiness trumps money!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd probably hire you for close to $15/hour. It wouldn't bother me that the care is at your house or that your other kids are around. If it turns out that my child's development is at the determent of your family set up, I'd reconsider. But, I'd give it a chance.

This is coming from a mom of an 18 month old currently at a daycare center.

Out of curiosity, what about this situation would be attractive to you?
Does your child's day care center close two weeks out of the year that you still pay for (since it's standard to give a nanny two weeks paid vacation?). What about when the teacher gets sick, do you need to scramble for back up care or does the center handle that?

How much is the tuition at the daycare center? At $15/hr, OP would be getting $600 for a 40 hour work week. Plus overtime at time and a half--so even just 45 hours would be $712/week. As her employer, you'd also be responsible for withholding taxes and paying "nanny taxes" (social security, Medicare, etc.). This could easily add up to nearly $800/week. And you are still the one getting your child out of the house each day, the extra stop before and after work, etc.

My child's daycare closed two weeks a year that we still had to pay for. One over Christmas, and one at the end of the summer. And while the daycare didn't close due to sickness, I was never allowed to bring in my child when he was sick, which was all.the.time. And to be in a nice daycare where they didn't leave the kids in swings and bouncy seats all day and had a dark room for naps was $1500/mo. And this was in Ohio. I can't imagine what it is in DC.

Daycares in DC do not close for weeks at a time. That is the point of them!

+1
I've never heard of big center day cares closing for a week. I've heard of home day cares doing that--but usually at a home day care you are only paying $250-300/week, or even less. OP's desired salary would be more in the $800/week or more

I posted this, but a lot of the daycares we looked at closed for the week between Christmas and New Years. The only one that didn't was the one associated with the Children's Hospital. The university ones closed 2 weeks a year.

[Anonymous]

OP, I understand that you dislike your job and profession, that you desperately want to be home with your baby and that they are only young right now. Sometimes it's totally worth it to seize the moment and go with your gut. We only live once after all.

I would encourage you however to try and take the long view. First of all, you have some flexibility as a lawyer--as others have noted, you can do part-time work that I imagine is quite different than the work you do now. Do not immediately write it off. It may not be the most fulfilling experience ever but it will bring it what sounds like needed income and still allow you plenty of time with your kids. And who knows, you may be surprised to find that you enjoy adjuncting, or something else you haven't tried before.

I will also say, as a mom of elementary schoolers--I and many others I know felt a much stronger desire to be there for our kids as they got a little older, and in some ways found it even more difficult to juggle the demands of full-time work at that stage. I understand the "birth to 3" mentality, but it's not like there's some switch that goes off then--in the child's brain, or for you as a parent. Your plan to launch into a new career in five years time may prove far more difficult or far more distasteful to you than it seems right now.

I would encourage you to look for part-time work in your field, which I presume will pay far more than the nannying you describe and will give you more flexibility. I really think you are idealizing the nannying idea--it's HARD work, two babies are a lot harder than one, you may wind up resenting the setup especially if it prevents you from spending time with your daughter, and your DH may become frustrated when you bring in far, far less money than you do now but pick up none of the household tasks that most SAHMs take on. You are basically talking about switching to a far less lucrative career when you don't have to, to still get a lot of what you want.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd probably hire you for close to $15/hour. It wouldn't bother me that the care is at your house or that your other kids are around. If it turns out that my child's development is at the determent of your family set up, I'd reconsider. But, I'd give it a chance.

This is coming from a mom of an 18 month old currently at a daycare center.

Out of curiosity, what about this situation would be attractive to you?
Does your child's day care center close two weeks out of the year that you still pay for (since it's standard to give a nanny two weeks paid vacation?). What about when the teacher gets sick, do you need to scramble for back up care or does the center handle that?

How much is the tuition at the daycare center? At $15/hr, OP would be getting $600 for a 40 hour work week. Plus overtime at time and a half--so even just 45 hours would be $712/week. As her employer, you'd also be responsible for withholding taxes and paying "nanny taxes" (social security, Medicare, etc.). This could easily add up to nearly $800/week. And you are still the one getting your child out of the house each day, the extra stop before and after work, etc.

My child's daycare closed two weeks a year that we still had to pay for. One over Christmas, and one at the end of the summer. And while the daycare didn't close due to sickness, I was never allowed to bring in my child when he was sick, which was all.the.time. And to be in a nice daycare where they didn't leave the kids in swings and bouncy seats all day and had a dark room for naps was $1500/mo. And this was in Ohio. I can't imagine what it is in DC.

Daycares in DC do not close for weeks at a time. That is the point of them!

+1
I've never heard of big center day cares closing for a week. I've heard of home day cares doing that--but usually at a home day care you are only paying $250-300/week, or even less. OP's desired salary would be more in the $800/week or more

Our closes for one week in the summer and one week over Christmas, but it's more of a preschool that also offers full day care. Is it inconvenient? Sure, but I'm happy for the teachers and aides to have a break.

[Anonymous]

You aren't a nanny if you work in your own home.