How do you figure out nanny pay when one child is in school part time?
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Anonymous
I wouldn't hire you because the tasks that you list don't take much time at all. My kids nap for at least 3.5 hours every afternoon. This is 12.5 hours a week on top of a daily one hour break. It takes 10 minutes to unload the dishwasher. Kid laundry is not a daily task and no one needs someone organizing outgrown clothes more than a few times a year. You are just being dishonest trying to claim that any of these things add up to actual work. I pay our nanny a reasonable rate which may or may not be more than your rate + 400 to actually do something during nap time. Luckily, my nanny has a good work ethic which I think is the real probably with so many nannies on this site. You have no work ethic. You only want to maximize your downtime or expect some extra compensation to get yourself off the couch. You will not go far with this approach. |
Anonymous
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nannydeb- I think what you do qualifies as light housework and would be satisfied with this, along with quality childcare. are you not entitled to 30 minutes to yourself as a nanny? i don't think some of you are being realistic here, exactly how much are you getting accomplished on the weekends during naptime? and who gets 3.5 hours of naptime, my kids have never once napped over 3 hours! you are paying for a professional care giver- not a housekeeper!
on a side note tho, i would feel annoyed if i asked my nanny to switch over my laundry (start a load hamper to washer, or washer to dryer) and they told me they were disgusted by this. i would do it for you if you asked me to! |
Anonymous
1) of course. I have yet to see an MB that does not say a nanny should be able to relax for an about an hr (on a normal FT shift) and it is only in the extra time beyond that that MBs want her to make herself useful. seems totally reasonable. We nanny share though so often the kids do not nap at exactly the same times, so i have low expectations of what nanny should accomplish since she often has only a bit of overlaping nap time. 2) during weekends I try to relax some since that is the only time I am not either working or "mom"ing. However, I am aware of how long it takes to unload the dishwasher uninterupted. it is not long. 3) It is not crazy for 6 to 18 month babies to nap 1.5 hrs in the AM and another 2 in the PM. 3.5 hrs for that age group is pretty normal. That assumes of course no other kids. |
Anonymous
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Oh gosh, people with OP's mindset can never hold onto a nanny long-term. Unless the nanny is one of those who hold there feelings or resentment and 'suck it up for the kids.'
OP, can the nanny charge extra when the kids are giving her a very tough time. She can just double her rate when your baby is over-tired and throwing tantrums all day? Better yet, when the other child is sick and needs to be picked up, nanny can tell the child that she's only getting paid for her brother so s/he will have to suck it up and wait for mommy's lunch hour. |
Anonymous
Nannies get paid between $10 and $20 per hour so you can't be too picky. It has less to do with nannies trying to maximize THEIR downtime, and more to do with MB's trying to fill in each hour with duties and get their money's worth. There will be downtime and unless you're paying $30+ an hour, nannies will continue to have their downtime. If you come home to a happy, healthy, content baby and a clean home then why rock the boat? You think your nanny has an amazing work ethic but the truth is, when you come home and kick up on the couch while ignoring yours kid and pouring a cold drink, what you're really doing is pouring a glass of your nannies resentful spit! |
nannydebsays
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I did ALL family laundry, including cloth diapers for 2 kids, in my first job nearly 20 years ago. Maybe I should have picked a better descriptor than "disgusting", but my reasoning is this: I don't want to know if MB prefers thongs or boy shorts, I don't want to know if Db prefers boxers or briefs, and I just don't want to handle someone else's dirty laundry. That said, if my bosses leave a clean load in the washer, I'll put it in the dryer and then in a laundry basket in their room. I know nannies IRL who won't even do that, so I don't feel like a terrible lazy nanny who, as I believe a PP said, "only wants to do what's fun for me". Trust me, taking the toddler to do full grocery shopping each week is NOT the most fun I could have. But I do it, because it's a part of the job I agreed to do. I am a little baffled that some PP's would (apparently) not hire a nanny who won't wash their clothes and linens for them. To my mind, that's kind of the LAST thing a parent should care about when it comes to their childcare provider, but... |
Anonymous
| I'm always a little surprised when people seem so adamant that their nanny do adult laundry. a) It's never even been brought up by any of my employers that I should do their laundry. Nothing more than the VERY occasional request that I switch it from washer to dryer (which I have no problem with). And b) I find my own laundry to be very private. Occasionally when my mom comes to visit she offers to do my laundry, and even that feels a bit uncomfortable to me. There's nothing heinous going on in my laundry, I just think that some things need to stay private between employer and employee. |
nannydebsays
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Yes, you got me. The 8+ hours a week** I spend on the listed tasks are in no way "real work", and I obviously shouldn't expect to make it as a nanny. Darn, and I was almost at the 20 year mark too! **load/empty dishwasher - 20 mins - daily - 100 min/week Trash duty - 5 mins - daily - 25/week Cooking for my charges - 40 mins - daily (sample menu: grilled chicken, risotto, roasted cauliflower, steamed broccoli, clementines) - 200/week Vacuum - 20 mins -bi-weekly - 10/week Laundry - 20 mins - twice a week - 8/week Family groceries - 2 hours - weekly - 120/week Family Errands - 1 hour - weekly - 60/week General tidying and picking up toys - 20 mins - daily |
Anonymous
There will be no making them understand nannydeb. How can they? They only hire nannies who will perform these duties for them and more, so the 30 minutes of "tidying" they do on the weekends (or leave for nanny on Monday because that's what you pay her to do right) seems like nothing and therefore nanny must have it made during the week! With multiple charges on different nap schedules that may or may not happen from day to day, this fairy tale hour break the MBs have been so gracious enough to grant us often never happens. |
Anonymous
| NannyDeb, why even bother arguing with the few PPs on this thread who think they have nannies when they actually have housekeepers who keep an eye on the kids when they're awake? They don't see the difference and I don't think you can help them. |
Anonymous
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Oh please. So far, the only distinction that's been made between "professional nannies" and " housekeepers who keep an eye on the kids" is all the stuff that nannies won't do. If you want people to understand, why not tell us what you are doing? Yeah, laundry and housework isn't fun. I work part time, so I know I'm capable of having a great day with the kids, and getting work done around the house. I'd love to hear some actual justification of what nannies do, not what they won't do.
Look, I'm glad so many of you have found job that I only contain tasks you are happy to do. I wish i was so lucky. But let's not define someone as superior because they want to do less work during their job. |
Anonymous
| Oh, and to nannydeb, I see you spend a lot of hours each week grocery shopping and cooking. That's great that your employer wants you to do that and it's a job you are willing to do. We however, don't mind doing those things ourselves, and would much rather have our nanny spend a similar amount of time in household laundry. If she's willing to do that, it doesn't make her a lower level of nanny, just a better match for us. |
Anonymous
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Wow, I'm surprised at the attacks on Nannydeb. While I'm not always on her side and have no problem telling her when I think she's wrong...this time, she is absolutely on point.
(Well, almost. Loading and unloading a dishwasher doesn't take 20 min.) She is detailing exactly what a professional nanny does and if you want someone to wash adult laundry, fine. Hire a housekeeper. Stop assuming your nanny is lazy because she isn't a housekeeper. |
nannydebsays
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LOL! Thanks to my bosses propensity to overload to the point that the dishwasher begs for mercy, it does take a while to unload, see what has to be re-washed, set that stuff aside, and then re-load. But probably 20 minutes is a bit too high. 
And I know, other PP's, that nothing will change the opinions of those MB's who have laundress/housekeeper/nanny service all in one person. As I said above, it's just such an ODD thing to prioritize. I go grocery shopping and cook so my charges can eat. I run errands so they can have diapers and all those other helpful items. Of course, some nannies refuse to do any groceries or Tagrget runs, so... |
Anonymous
| I also think that some of the PPs forget the primary reason they have chosen to hire a nanny-someone needs to physically be there when they cannot. Of course, I'm not saying that all a nanny does is physically "be there"-they should be doing all the things that childcare directly encompasses. And all of us do a little more on the side like take out the trash when it's full or empty the dishwasher. Heck, for a great appreciative employer, there are no limits to what most nannies will do. But you folks who bemoaning having to pay your nanny while your LO sleeps or is in school-why not just come home during the hours and give your nanny off with no pay during that time? See, problem solved. |