nannydebsays wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are having a hard time finding a nanny for our four kids, and I come here to seek advice from others who have successfully done so (or nannies who have worked in similar situations). Our situation is this: two school aged kids, 7 and 5, full day school. One 3 year old, part day preschool 2x/wk. One 1 year old, at home. Nanny works from about 8-5:30/6. School aged kids get home at 3:00, so she's responsible for them for 2.5-3 hrs of after school time. No significant cleaning tasks or anything, other than kids laundry and keeping up with kids toys (directing older kids, assisting younger kids). No dinner prep, etc. - just feed them an after school snack, maybe oversee some very limited homework, and let them play.

We are finding that it's just about impossible to find a good nanny who can handle this set of kids and won't flake out on us. We're paying pretty middle of the road rates - definitely not low, but also not premium wages. I am reluctant to pay a premium wage when half the kids are gone for the majority of the day. The nanny currently has about 1.5-2 hours in the morning of complete quiet (youngest napping, 3 yr old at preschool), and a good 2.5 hours in the afternoon of quiet time (both younger kids napping). This doesn't seem like an insanely heavy workload to me, but maybe I'm underestimating.

Our problem seems to be attracting decent candidates who are confident enough to handle four kids, including the short term burst of energy that comes through the door at the end of the school day. Many are fine with two kids, or three, but the idea of four seems to scare them off before they even give it a chance.

Help me out here - what to do? Suggestions other than "throw money at the problem" would be helpful.

So, other than laundry for 4 kids (6+ loads a week, I would guess, more if she also washes their linens.) and "toy management" (tidying and supervising on a daily basis, with 2 reluctant-to-clean-up-kids under 4 and 2 over-wrought-from-school-kids ages 5 and 7), what else do you expect from your nanny in the way of light housework? Does she serve your kids the meals/snacks you made the day before, or does she have to make meals and snacks? Does she leave the dishes they use in the sink or on the table, or do you expect her to clean up after meals? Do you expect her to make any beds? Is she expected to deal with the dishwasher at all? What about keeping the floors clean? Do you expect her to empty diaper genies and household trash? Are there any family pets she is expected to care for? Does she have to drive any kids anywhere for school or other activities? Do you expect her to grocery shop or run any errands?

What are nanny's hours? What benefits do you offer? How do you show her your appreciation for a job well done? What expectations do you have of her regarding your children's emotional, physical, psychological and social development? What do you ask of her when it comes to their education?

I'll return to offer advice later. I hope you'll have responded to the questions above so that I can tailor my thoughts to your actual job description and needs!

Anonymous wrote:Nannydeb, you seem to think 20 years of experience doing laundry, wiping things, making meals, and being able function on a schedule makes you worth so very much more. Frankly, there's by much of a value add after two or so years of experience, as long as the nanny has basic common sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nannydeb, you seem to think 20 years of experience doing laundry, wiping things, making meals, and being able function on a schedule makes you worth so very much more. Frankly, there's by much of a value add after two or so years of experience, as long as the nanny has basic common sense.

+1

I can't stand the snotty, arrogant tone in NannyDeb's posts!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nannydeb, you seem to think 20 years of experience doing laundry, wiping things, making meals, and being able function on a schedule makes you worth so very much more. Frankly, there's by much of a value add after two or so years of experience, as long as the nanny has basic common sense.

+1

I can't stand the snotty, arrogant tone in NannyDeb's posts!

Anonymous wrote:Nannydeb, you seem to think 20 years of experience doing laundry, wiping things, making meals, and being able function on a schedule makes you worth so very much more. Frankly, there's by much of a value add after two or so years of experience, as long as the nanny has basic common sense.